Jon McLaughlin remains Sunderland's number one - but summer addition Lee Burge is pushing him all the way, according to Jack Ross.
The Black Cats boss regards Scotland international McLaughlin as the best goalkeeper in League One and his form last season established the 32-year-old as a firm fan favourite.
But the departure of Robbin Ruiter meant Sunderland had to recruit a backup keeper during the close season and Ross brought in former Coventry City man Burge , who was out of contract.
And while Burge has so far been restricted to Carabao Cup duties, he has impressed on every occasion and against Premier League Sheffield United in midweek he kept Sunderland's first clean sheet of the campaign.
Ross rates Burge highly and says he has proved to be an excellent addition.
"I’ve spoken before about what Lee is like as a character and as a professional – he is an absolute dream to work with," said Ross.
"He’s a brilliant boy and he has helped us enormously with his attitude towards training, and his performance levels in games have been excellent.
"Jon has been terrific but it’s hugely comforting for us to have a goalkeeper like Lee behind him, pushing him all the way.
"As a manager, recruiting what is viewed as a backup goalkeeper or a second-choice goalkeeper, is something that people don’t get excited about but he’s been really good and we have had it nailed on so far in terms of how he has been."
In any other position, Burge would surely have been given a chance to show what he could do in the league, but goalkeeper is a specialist position and it tends to be only when the incumbent suffers either an injury, suspension, or a dramatic loss of form that a change is made - and McLaughlin has not fallen victim to any of those, meaning he is set to return for tomorrow's League One game against MK Dons at the Stadium of Light.
Ross said: "Lee knew when he came to the club how we viewed Jon, and what we were looking for from another goalkeeper, and he has fulfulled every single one of those criteria.
"I didn’t want to bring in a goalkeeper who would come here and be a ‘just in case’ option – I wanted somebody who would push and push and push, and he’s doing that at the moment, every opportunity he gets."
