Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira is pleased with the selection headache Jack Butland has caused him.
The 28-year-old was thrust into the starting eleven following an injury to first-choice stopper Vicente Guaita and was at fault for the opening goal in an eventual win away at London rivals Millwall earlier this month.
Butland, however, rectified that with an excellent performance away at Brighton last week which involved a number of key interventions, including a penalty save from Pascal Gross.
While Guaita is now fit again, Vieira spoke in glowing terms of Butland’s presence ahead of Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Liverpool at Selhurst Park.
“Against Millwall he had quite a solid game, but people focus on the mistake,” said Vieira to the club’s official website.
“Obviously when you are a goalkeeper and you make a mistake, you have more chance of scoring a goal. I was happy with the way he led the defence.
“I was really happy for him because Brighton he had a really good game. We took a point, and it’s because of the way he played. In the first-half he made some fantastic saves to keep us in the game.
“I’m really happy with the goalkeepers we have in this football club. It’s always been a competition. Vince never took his position for granted, he always works hard in training. There is competition in a lot of positions in the football club – this is what we want.”
