McCarthy talks competition for starting place

Alex McCarthy and Adam Federici will be fighting it out for a starting place this season, but McCarthy says there is no animosity between the two.

The 23-year will probably go into the season as favourite for the number one jersey, but Federici provides stiff competition. Stuart Taylor will remain third choice keeper for the upcoming campaign, but McCarthy claims that all three keepers have no problem at all with each other.

Speaking to the Reading Post, McCarthy said: ‘Me and Feds have been here a while so we have a really good relationship. Then Stu’s come in for the last couple of seasons. We’re a really tight group but obviously all of us want to play. It’s up to the manager to pick who starts and its up to the other two to respect that.’

‘We never fall out about because we’re not the one who makes the decision. We all like to try and push each other in training and get the best out of each other. I wouldn’t say there’s any sort of animosity. We’re all great friends, we just all want to play.’

It’s tough to call who is going be named in the starting XI on August 3rd. You could obviously presume it would be McCarthy, but his mistake against West Ham last season and a similar mistake in Portugal may have given Nigel Adkins a few things to think about. We could be seeing a season of rotation for the number one jersey.