Lumley: I’ll fight for the No1 shirt

Joe Lumley said he is determined to fight for QPR’s No1 spot, despite Liam Kelly’s imminent return from injury, writes Alessandro Schiavone.

Lumley started the campaign as QPR’s first-choice goalkeeper, but slipped down the pecking order following a series of below-par displays which cost his side some vital points.

But after Rangers’ 2-0 win over Preston on Saturday, the 24-year-old had nothing but praise for the Scot, who moved south of the border in the summer, and dismissed suggestions of a rivalry.

He told the London Weekly News: “Liam’s been injured and he’s worked so hard to get back fit and he’ll be back soon. So we’ll go again. We both work hard and get on really well because he’s such a great lad.

“Whoever the manager picks, he picks. If I play, Liam supports me and if Liam gets the nod I support him, that’s how it goes.

“There’s friendship between Liam and me but we both want to play. If Liam does really well then I have got to push and work even harder, which is a good thing.

“It’s like last year when Matt Ingram was there and he was different class every single time in training. So I had to work hard and it’s the same with Liam now.

“And there’s also Dillon [Barnes] who works his lungs off every time.

“But only one goalkeeper can play but if there’s healthy competition you can only improve.”

QPR managed to keep their first clean sheet of the season on Saturday, and Lumley played a pivotal part in it as he pulled off two crucial saves to deny Preston a lifeline in the second half.

But the stopper, who can feel Kelly breathing down his neck, did not get carried away after his brilliant display earned him plenty of plaudits at
the weekend.

He said: “I never let my highs get too high and my lows be too low.

“That’s something every footballer sort of does.

“The games come up thick and fast, we have got a game on Wednesday and
then we’ve got a game coming up on Saturday – and then there’s lots of games around Christmas.”