After his horrendous error against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Ben Foster, the on-loan Watford goalkeeper, is only half-joking in suggesting that he should follow the example of a great Dane by laying the blame elsewhere. The England international will return to Manchester United from Watford next season determined to emulate his hero, Peter Schmeichel, if not for his habit of haranguing any defender within earshot every time he was beaten.

In a distinguished career at Old Trafford, Schmeichel was spared the various indignities experienced by David Seaman, David James and Paul Robinson in an England shirt and would not admit it on the rare occasions when he was culpable. Foster took a different approach by immediately putting his hands up after being beaten from 88 yards by Robinson, the Tottenham goalkeeper, though he says that it should not damage his international chances.

“Schmeichel had a massive impact on me as a goalkeeper, everything about him,” Foster said. “He was very big and commanding, everyone respected him massively and when he made a mistake he’d blame someone else. I should have blamed Danny Shittu, really, but it was massively my fault.

“A lot of people were looking at the Spurs game as me versus Robbo, but that’s not the way I looked at it. There were chants of ‘England’s No 1’ and ‘England’s No 2’, and after the goal went in there were a few shouts of ‘England’s No 4’! But I didn’t look at it like that and just try to do as well as I can in every game I play. I would like to think that one person’s finishing skills isn’t going to decide who is the England No 1.”

Foster’s admission also contrasts with the way Robinson handled his own mistake in Croatia last October, with the Tottenham goalkeeper seemingly blaming everyone but himself in the aftermath of England’s 2-0 defeat. The 23-year-old’s honesty reflects well on an individual who grew up outside the bubble of Premiership academies, as well as the skills of Kate Smith, his girlfriend, who is a qualified psychologist.

“It’s good to have people like Kate around to talk to,” Foster said. “Some footballers treat incidents a bit big-headedly and say that things don’t bother them, but sometimes you need to talk about it and get your feelings out and I find it really helps to talk about it. When it’s all going well it’s fine, but when something bad happens she’s a great person to have around.

“I’m definitely relieved it happened in a club game. Part of coming out on loan to Watford was to get experience and you know you’re going to make mistakes along the way.

“If it had been for England or Manchester United at this point of the season, when every point is critical, I’d have got a lot more publicity. Robinson’s mistake was for England in a qualifier and the next day he was on the front pages. That’s a goalkeeper’s life, I suppose, but the mark of a great goalkeeper is how you deal with it.”

Foster expects to be greeted by a barrage of banter when he joins up with the England squad today, but his confidence remains intact. After making his debut in last month’s friendly defeat by Spain, he will be back on the bench against Israel, although he is already planning his way past Robinson and Edwin van der Sar, the incumbent at Old Trafford.

“I think Edwin has been awesome this season; to be honest he’s my No 1 goalkeeper at the moment in the world,” Foster said at the announcement of his three-year deal with Sells goalkeeper products.

“He’s a really nice guy and a good person to learn from. It’s going to be a difficult time next season getting him out of the way. Getting into the United team and getting past Van der Sar would be a massive achievement. Being Manchester United’s No 1, everyone would expect you to be England’s first choice as well.”

Beckham’s net gain

David Beckham, the former England captain, has launched a free online coaching guide for his football academy, which has hosted educational days for more than 12,000 children in the UK. Beckham, visiting City Academy school in Bristol, said: “Every school will get the chance to sample what we provide.”