Jack Butland: I have everything I need at Birmingham City

The teenage goalkeeper made his competitive Blues debut on Saturday, four days after winning his first senior England cap.

And although an ambitious individual who is determined to stay on the Three Lions scene and push Joe Hart as hard as he can, Butland said it was not a question of him having to move elsewhere to help towards that end.

“Not at all,” said the 19-year-old, who is being monitored by every big Premier League club in the country, and more.


“I’ve got everything I need right here.

“I’ve got games, I’ve got training and it’s keeping me hopefully in the England set up.

“So everything ticks the boxes and it all goes hand in hand.

“If I were to move, for example, and I wasn’t getting games, then it would let down my chances with the international side.

“I know I have the chance to play games here at Birmingham and that’s important.

“I’m still 19 and there is no rush. I don’t know how many 19-year-olds are playing in the Championship, there’s certainly not any playing in the Premier League.

“For me, I just need to keep showing people what I’ve got and I have that opportunity here.

“So there is nothing more important for me at the minute than staying and playing games.”

Butland’s club form will keep him in Roy Hodgson’s thoughts.

“Without a doubt. If I wasn’t playing games then I would fall out of the system quickly because they can’t select you if you are not playing and they are not watching you play.”

Butland was safe and sound at St Andrew’s in the 1-1 draw against Charlton Athletic.

That was good for him, but the result was a disappointment, he admitted.

Blues have the chance to bounce back tomorrow at Sheffield Wednesday.

“We know we have got some players in the squad to play some frightening football,” said Butland.

“You have seen it in pre-season – the amount of goals we scored and chances we created. We have got the capability to do that.

“We had a lot of possession, which is the encouraging thing. We didn’t struggle to get hold of the ball we just didn’t use it in the right way.

“So I think the signs are good and we just have to press on from here.

“We managed to get a point which saved the day. We are still disappointed, but it is better to walk away with one than none.

“We go ahead onto Tuesday and build from there.”

Butland admitted that it was a nice feeling to finally make his Blues bow.

“I don’t think many players do it [club after country] the way I did,” said Butland, from whom Blues rejected a £6 million Southampton bid this summer.

“But I can’t fault what’s happened. I was very happy to get it out of the way.

“It was ‘he hasn’t played for Birmingham yet’ and it was doing my head in.

“I was grateful to get it out of the way and very pleased with my performance though, unfortunately, as a team we didn’t quite get the job done.”

As for which debut was more nerve-wracking, England or Blues, Butland stated: “Bit of both really.

“This [Blues] was a bit more of anticipation and frustration. I just wanted to get it out of the way so people could stop going on about it ,if you like.

“I was excited, just as I was for the game on Wednesday, but two very different scenarios and two very different experiences that I enjoyed equally.”

The hype surrounding Butland and pressure on him was a little unfair from the moment he was called up for Euro 2012, and then joined Team GB for the Olympic Games.

“Definitely, but there was nothing I could do about it,” he reflected.

“There were no Birmingham games across the summer. I was fortunate enough to go to the Euros, and then the Olympics, and then to make my England debut.

“So it was a very interesting and very exciting summer, and I can’t complain about the way it happened. But now my Birmingham debut’s out of the way hopefully we can focus on what’s important and carry on from there.”

bluenosekev wrote: Here today, kiss the badge ect, Gone tomorrow for a bigger pay deal...Managers are just the same. The only loyalty comes from us fans.


kro.