With all the talk about Gavin Bazunu and Caoimhín Kelleher battling it out to become Ireland's number one, the form of Mark Travers this season has gone somewhat under the radar.
That shouldn't be the case, with the Kildare native starring with Bournemouth. He has acted as their first choice goalkeeper all season as they chase promotion to the Premier League.
He has been very impressive in doing so. In fact, only Manchester City's Ederson is the only goalkeeper in the top three divisions of English football that can match Travers' record of 12 clean sheets this season.
Despite this, the Irishman is likely to face some stiff competition for his place in the team moving forward. With backup goalkeeper Orjan Nyland set for a spell on the sidelines, Bournemouth are close to signing Newcastle's Freddie Woodman on loan for the rest of the season.
🚨As per @TheAthleticUK, Freddie Woodman, who never went away from #afcb's interest, is a live option. #NUFC recalled another GK from loan last week.
Scott Parker wants someone to compete with Mark Travers not simply provide back up.— Jacob Tanswell (@J_Tanswell) January 30, 2022
Bournemouth attempted to bring Woodman to the club last summer to compete with Travers for the number one spot, something that could now materialise this month.
Despite the threat to his position in the side, Scott Parker is very happy with his goalkeeper.
Speaking to Dorset Live after yet another clean sheet in the win over Barnsley yesterday, the Bournemouth manager said he has very pleased with the progress Travers has been making.
[Nyland] is going to be out for a little while, to be honest with you.
Probably six to eight weeks. He's done his calf two days ago, so it looks a bit of a bad one really, so that's disappointing.
I think we're going to have to try and do something there (in the transfer window), because obviously for someone to be out that long, with only a young keeper now behind Trav, it's something we're going to probably have to do now...
Big saves today (from Travers_, again. That's what you need to do as a goalkeeper. You need to be in the game for the big moments and Travs was. He pulled off some big saves for us.
I'm very pleased with him overall and in his whole game. He has developed into a very good goalie and a very good person as well. I sense a presence about him now and he's growing.
It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out in the weeks ahead, although it would certainly be difficult to justify taking Travers out of the team based on his form this season.
SEE ALSO: Cascarino Thinks Lampard Is 'The Manager With A Silver Spoon In His Mouth'
