David Cornell is hopeful of using cup competitions to push incumbent Tomas Holy for the Ipswich Town No.1 shirt.
The Welshman has had to be patient since joining the Blues in the summer after leaving Northampton, with the 29-year-old’s appearances so far restricted to games in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Papa John’s Trophy.
He’s a likely starter again when Paul Lambert’s men head to Crawley for their final group game in the latter competition tomorrow night, with Cornell hoping to force his way into League One action.
“It’s a battle to be No.1 and that’s what I knew I was coming into in the summer,” he said.
“I knew I had to fight for the shirt and I still do, so I’m biding my time, working hard and am hopeful of an opportunity soon.
“It’s down to Tomas to keep his levels and also for me to keep pushing him by working hard, so fingers crossed my performances in the cup can help change the manager’s mind to put me in.
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“The two of us are very competitive in training but we get on well too. It’s a healthy competition.
“He’s a very good goalkeeper but also very different to anything I’ve really come across because of his size.
“But he uses it to his full advantage, which is key when you’re 6ft 9in. He’s impressed me and fingers crossed I’ve impressed him as well.”
If and when Cornell does break into Town’s league XI he’s hopeful of a run of games, rather than an isolated appearance before dropping out again.
“That’s the life of the goalkeeper,” he said.
“It’s difficult coming in for one or two games, here and there, because you do need a bit of a run to get used to things and start building relationships with the back four.”
Cornell had been solid in his three appearances prior to the weekend loss to Portsmouth, during which he was unfortunate to see Ronan Curtis’ free-kick bounce off the post and then his arm before finding the net, with Pompey’s second goal heavily deflected and then the winner clearly offside.
Though he also made some good saves and vital interceptions, the Welshman wasn’t overly impressed with his performance.
“I had a look at the game on Saturday evening and then again on Sunday, so we’ll go through the game again in training on Monday as well,” he said.
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“I felt when I was coming off the pitch that I didn’t do myself justice so I wanted to see back where I could improve and where I could do better.”
Cornell is likely to be lining up behind a back four made up of fringe and youth players in the Papa John’s Trophy – a tournament important to all those on the field.
“First and foremost, for me, it’s an important competition where I can get more minutes to knock on the door to try and get into the league side,” he said. “It’s the same for a few others.
“Then the younger lads see it as a first chance of first-team football, which is a great opportunity to help them on their path.”
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