James Trafford receives Leeds United 'love' after impressive England showing vs Czechia

Leeds United goalkeeper James Trafford praised the keeping of a clean sheet during England’s 2-0 win over Czechia in Prague on Tuesday.

Trafford was handed a second consecutive start for his country at the Fortuna Arena and enjoyed a night of relative comfort. The Leeds man, who conceded three at home to world champions Spain last weekend, kept 10-man Czechia out and was rarely tested.

The home side were reduced to 10 men inside 25 minutes after Pavel Sulc was shown a red card for a high tackle on Elliot Anderson, following a VAR review. Second-half goals from Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane then secured a comfortable win for England.

Trafford was a spectator for large parts but did produce two good saves in either half to keep Czechia at bay. The 23-year-old was also comfortable with the ball at his feet and appeared to please manager Thomas Tuchel with some of his passing and decision-making.

Following the victory, Trafford posted a series of matchday pictures on his Instagram account. Alongside the snaps, he simply wrote: “Win, clean sheet well done team”.

And Trafford received responses from a couple of his Elland Road teammates, most notably Dominic Calvert-Lewin who wrote: “Love it you”. The striker was also in Prague on Tuesday but watched England’s win from the substitute’s bench.

Calvert-Lewin replaced Harry Kane late on against Spain last weekend but was given no such chance to score against 10-man Czechia. Tuchel did remove Kane late in the second-half but opted to experiment with Jude Bellingham as a false nine.

Another notable comment came from Alex Cairns, who posted three heart eyes emojis. The vastly experienced shot-stopper is obviously part of the three-man Leeds goalkeeping group with Trafford and summer arrival Michael Zetterer.

Trafford and Cairns have clearly developed a strong relationship already, the pair often spotted sharing a hug and quick chat in the minutes before kick-off at Elland Road. They and Zetterer are also regularly seen enjoying each other’s company in pre-game warm-ups.

For Trafford, his international break is expected to end on the high of a clean sheet win with Tuchel expected to reinstate long-standing first-choice Jordan Pickford for games against Croatia and Czechia again. That was always going to be the plan for this break.