Mark Kennedy dropped a hint about the future of the Lincoln City number 1 shirt following a big win against Oxford United this weekend that saw current City goalkeeper Carl Rushworth take the spotlight with a man of the match worthy performance.
City signed keeper Rushworth in the summer from Premier League side, Brighton and Hove Albion on a loan deal until the end of the season and he has become one of our most important players, keeping a healthy number of clean sheets this season which is currently twelve after a great performance from the stopper on Saturday afternoon. That stat is a major improvement on the previous season, with City just keeping just six clean sheets, and even four of them came once second choice keeper Jordan Wright came into the side due to an injury to Josh Griffiths.
Mark has been very complimentary of Carl in the press saying, “He’s phenomenal. I’m a big fan of James Trafford in our league, I think those two are arguably the two best ‘keepers in the league. Carl has had an outstanding season, I think he’s a grade A player. I spoke to England last week about him, and I can’t compliment him enough. We’re really lucky to have Carl, and Brighton have a real talent on their hands.”
Mark continued on to say, “I think goalkeeping is a very unique position, but I think he’s got everything, he’s top class. His temperament, his agility, he’s so quick, lightening quick. One thing he’s done brilliantly this year is that he comes and catches crosses for fun. Short game, he’s really good over short distances I think he’s got to get better over long distances, but you don’t have to worry about that in the Premier League.”
It wasn’t just Carl that received praise post-match, with Mark heaping the praise on second choice goalkeeper Jordan Wright, who has been behind Rushworth for much of this season. “I have to mention Jordan Wright. A huge part of Carl being where he is, is down to Carl but a huge part of that is the pressure that Jordan puts on him. Everyday his [Wright’s] training is outstanding, he [Wright] is a real eye-catching performer, I think Jordan warrants an honest mention of what brings to use everyday.”
It’s clear to see that Mark is a big fan of our second choice keeper, and it seems as if he is in for a shout of being number one next season with him being labelled as “a real eye-catching performer”. While we might miss Carl next season, we have a quality keeper in Jordan, that has shown his quality multiple times at the end of last season and a few times in cup competitions this season. If we were to have him as our number one next season, I wouldn’t be worried going into a League One campaign with him between the sticks.