Burnley’s James Trafford opens up on England disappointment, Premier League debut and relegation

The 21-year-old was part of Gareth Southgate’s initial 33-man squad for this summer’s tournament in Germany.

But after whittling his pool of players down to 26, Southgate made Trafford one of the seven who didn’t make the final cut. Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson were the three goalkeepers to get the nod.

In an interview with Farmers Weekly, Trafford suggests his omission will only fuel his desire to be included next time round.

“There was a little bit of disappointment that I had not been picked, but the three goalies who are going are massively talented,” he said.

“Hopefully the experience will help me when the next major tournament comes round in two years’ time.”

Trafford’s inclusion in the Three Lions’ preliminary squad came after a mixed debut season with the Clarets.

After making the move from Manchester City, the stopper was immediately thrown into the limelight as Burnley’s number one, replacing last season’s keeper Arijanet Muric.

Despite some difficult moments, Kompany kept faith with the former Bolton Wanderers loanee, who continues to be strongly linked with a move away to Newcastle United this summer.

That was until mid-March, when Kompany finally made the decision to drop Trafford in favour of Muric, who stayed in between the sticks until the end of the season.

Reflecting on his first experience of the Premier League, Trafford admits there were a lot of “tough times”.

“The first time I actually touched the ball in the Prem was picking the ball out of the back of the net from [Erling] Haaland,” he joked. “Talk about a difficult introduction!

“It’s the best league in the world for a reason, every game is so tough. The talent in the league is unbelievable; bigger than anyone can understand unless you’ve played in it.

“They weren’t always good experiences, there were a lot of tough times. But you grow the most in the tough times.

“I honestly wouldn’t have changed anything for the world.”