Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita has lauded the impact Julian Speroni had on him when he broke into the Eagles' side and described the legend's retirement as a 'big loss'.
Speroni brought his Palace career to an end at the end of last season, the year in which Guaita made the goalkeeper's jersey his own on his way to 20 Premier League appearances.
Of course, Speroni showed his class to support his teammate.
Guaita said: "When I came into the team last year, my teammates welcomed me. Above all, Julian [Speroni] - a very good keeper who had an incredible career at Crystal Palace.
"There are very few people who can say they've achieved what he achieved, even just staying at the club for such a long time."
Nevertheless Guaita believes the current crop of stoppers have bonded well and will continue to flourish even without Speroni's influence. The Spaniard specifically mentioned the presence of coach Dean Kiely as a big plus.
He said: "Well, football's a bit like that. At times you have new teammates, other times you remain with teammates. I think last season we had a really great group. Between Julian, Wayne [Hennessey] and I, we got on really well.
"This year we're still really happy, Deano [Dean Kiely] is still here as a goalkeeping coach. He's a great person and a true professional who helps us a lot. Hendo [Stephen Henderson] has come in - he's a great keeper and a great person. Julian was definitely a big loss but we have a good group this year too."
