Carlo Ancelotti insists he has 'total confidence' in Jordan Pickford

Carlo Ancelotti has “total confidence” in Jordan Pickford and claimed Everton are not looking to sign another goalkeeper.

The England international was told his form had to improve by the Everton manager last season and found himself under scrutiny again on Wednesday with two errors against Fleetwood in the Carabao Cup. Ancelotti, however, insists he has no concerns over Pickford’s performance level and has given the 26-year-old unequivocal support.

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“There is a lot of focus on him but I have to be honest, he started the season really well and he did a fantastic match against Tottenham,” Ancelotti said. “When he does make a mistake I am the first person who says, ‘you made a mistake’ because he has to understand. But I am not really focused on him like you [the media] are. For me he is a great goalkeeper. He could have done better against Fleetwood but the defenders could also have done better. We didn’t build up well as a team but that’s it. He has my total confidence.”

Everton have been linked with a move for Manchester United’s goalkeeper Sergio Romero, with only Jonas Lössl and the 20-year-old João Virgínia providing competition for Pickford. But Ancelotti stated: “No, we are not looking for this.” A central defender is the priority.

Ancelotti’s team, who visit Crystal Palace on Saturday, have made a 100% start to the season, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring four goals in two Premier League games. The manager, slightly tongue-in-cheek, claimed his strikers should score at least 20 goals each this season given the creativity around them.

“I said to them you have to score at least 20 goals each. Moise [Kean] also has possibilities – he played two games and scored two goals. If I played striker and I had behind James [Rodríguez], [André] Gomes and [Gylfi] Sigurdsson I would score goals. With James at Madrid, Ronaldo scored 56 goals. I am not going to ask Dominic to score 55 but he has to try his best.”