Sunderland have today recalled young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from his loan spell at Preston North End to fight Vito Mannone and Costel Pantilimon for the number 1 spot for the Black Cats.
YouTube: Good hands from England U21s goalkeepers | Inside Training
The new England U21 international has enjoyed a successful spell with Simon Grayson’s Championship outfit, keeping an impressive 13 clean sheets in his 24 appearances, including six clean sheets in a row, a club-record for the Lillywhites. Preston manager Simon Grayson said:
“Jordan has gone back. We had an agreement in the summer that he would be for the year but obviously Sunderland had an option that they could recall him in January if they needed to.
“Given how well he has played, it is not a surprise they have called him back. Sam Allardyce wants to have a look at him and Jordan goes back with our thanks, we are grateful for what he has done for us. The lad has been fantastic to work with, he has contributed massively.
“He is going to be a top goalkeeper, whether that is at Sunderland or further down the line somewhere else.”
The 21-year-old will be the second youngster to try and break into the Sunderland first team this season following Duncan Watmore’s rise to stardom this year. Pickford will be wanting to establish himself as Sunderland’s number 1 but will be unavailable for Saturday’s relegation crunch clash with Aston Villa.
A want to say a massive thank you to @pnefc! Had a great time and fans were amazing! Time to kick on for @SunderlandAFC now ⚽️⚽️⚽️
— Jordan Pickford (@JPickford1) December 31, 2015
