NICK Pope insists he would be ready for an England debut should he be thrown in at the deep end during the World Cup.

The Clarets goalkeeper capped an incredible season with a call-up for England's 23-man squad for the tournament in Russia, but he is yet to win a first cap for the Three Lions.

Pope was called into Gareth Southgate's squad in March but didn't feature in the friendlies against Holland or Italy. He could yet make his debut in the World Cup warm-up fixtures against Nigeria and Costa Rica, but even if circumstances see him in the side come Russia the 26-year-old insists he'll be ready.

Pope had never played a minute of Premier League football until September 10 and has won his place in the World Cup squad on the back of just 34 Premier League starts and he believes that rapid rise will help him this summer.

Asked if he'd be ready for a debut during the World Cup, he said: "I think I've got to feel like that. I got thrown in in the Premier League at the deep end. I hadn't played a game before.

"As a goalkeeper, when you come off the bench and you've not played any games at that level, it's one of the toughest things you can do.

"I feel like I've been thrown in at the deep end before and managed to float, just about!

"I'm looking forward to the challenge more than anything. Nothing to be scared of I don't think from my point of view. I just want to treat it as a stage to show what I'm about."

On whether the friendlies against Nigeria at Wembley and Costa Rica at Elland Road will be key to deciding the starting XI for the first game of the World Cup against Russia, Pope said: "Yeah, possibly.

"We are a group, a squad that do get on really well but that helps us push each other every day in training.

"The lads that are playing and not playing, we'll still try and push each other and obviously the end goal is to get in that starting XI for the first game of the World Cup but the bigger picture is the England national team and that's what we really want to push and want to do well."

Pope is the outsider of the three goalkeepers to earn that start, behind Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland, although the stats would suggest he should be England's number one this summer.

"It's down to more than stats, you can't pick an XI on that," the former Charlton goalkeeper said.

"But I just see it as see how these two first friendlies go and the training. Looking to impress in training, as all the lads are, to earn a spot in the friendly before you think about the World Cup and take it from there."

Pope's call-up for the tournament came at the expense of Joe Hart, who was dropped after a disappointing season on loan at West Ham.

Hart was England's number one during the qualifying stages and has won 75 caps for the Three Lions, but Pope insists he is a goalkeeper he has long admired.

"I wouldn't mind his 75 caps!," Pope said. "A great career for him. (He's) someone that I've looked up to in the past and someone I've managed to learn off and watch play a lot of games.

"That is a measure of the competition that someone like Joe hasn't quite made the squad. A lot of lads that have missed out are probably disappointed but the standard and level we get to pick from England makes it a tough pool of players to pick from."