Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard and David de Gea are very good friends, but the former said there will be no hesitation in fighting for a place in the starting line-up at Old Trafford.
The form of De Gea has come under much scrutiny, with the Spanish goalkeeper failing to establish himself at the start of last season. The young goalkeeper, slowly found form towards the end of the last campaign, with everybody believing he would be the undisputed No. 1 at United, come the start of the new season.
However, while De Gea has looked extremely capable when it comes to shot-stopping, the Spanish goalkeeper is a bit suspect in defending crosses and corners, and Sir Alex Ferguson dropped him for United's last game against Southampton, after a few nervy moments against Fulham.
Whenever given a chance, Lindegaard has looked solid and the goalkeeper is hoping to make the No 1 spot his own. Lindegaard, speaking on United's podcast "Red Voices", said the rivalry for the starting spot, does not affect his relationship with De Gea off the field. "Not at all. I can say, with hand on heart, not at all, he said. "I have a very good relationship with David.
"We are very good friends. I have a lot of respect for him and I feel he has a lot of respect for me too.
"I would say it's more the opposite. We support each other very much. From the first day he came to the club, we have both been telling each other: 'I think you can try to solve this situation in a different way'.
"I'm a bit older than him and he's a bit more experienced than me in terms of playing games. So we can help each other in a lot of things."
Lindegaard paid tribute to goalkeeping coach Eric Steele in ensuring that everyone stays happy and competitive at the club. "I think the whole environment created for us by Eric Steele is very good," he said.
"I'm sure it's not an easy job to have two qualified keepers who both want to play as No. 1. Obviously, there can only be one so it's not an easy job to keep us both happy, keep us both motivated and keep our character where we want to play for him and perform for him, as we want to perform for the manager.
"Eric is doing a fantastic job with that."
