'Unbelievable': Sheffield Wednesday keeper James Beadle on training with England - and desire to be 'number one'

The 20-year-old, on loan from Premier League outfit Brighton for the 2024-25 campaign - after a very successful stint at Wednesday in the second half of last term - made his England under-21 debut against Austria earlier this week and was also given the chance to impress interim Three Lions boss Lee Carsley.

Beadle trained alongside established England number one Jordan Pickford, plus Dean Henderson and Nick Pope.

On a rewarding international break, London-born Beadle, back with the Owls and preparing for Saturday’s return to Championship business at home to QPR, said: “I made my debut for the under-21s and trained with the first team, so it’s been really good.

"It was unbelievable, to be fair, with the standard of players, who you literally watched in the summer at the Euros.

"It shows the levels I want to get to and I want to be getting called up to that team in the future.

"There’s a pathway to the first team and the manager now was with the under-21s last year (season) and the goalie coach was with the ‘21s’ (last season) and it shows there’s a continuity throughout the age groups and shows that hopefully if I keep working hard and training and keep improving, then one day I can hopefully get into that team properly.

"For anyone, playing internationally for your country is the pinnacle of football.

"That’s the same for me and the biggest driving factor for me is hopefully one day being England’s number one.”