Keller set to retain keeper spot

Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez has handed a huge vote of confidence to goalkeeper Kasey Keller ahead of Sunday’s match against Portsmouth.

The Cottagers will have their work cut out stopping a team who managed seven goals in their last game – a 7-4 win over Reading – but Sanchez’s defence are in confident mood after earning a goalless draw at Chelsea last weekend.

Sanchez gives much of the credit for that success to American Keller, who kept the Blues’ attack at bay on only his second appearance of the season for Fulham.

That display was enough to convince Sanchez that it is Keller, 37, who should start the Barclays Premier League encounter with Harry Redknapp’s men.

Sanchez said: “Kasey kept a clean sheet, which was only the second one we’ve managed this season.

“I made a decision against Chelsea to go with Kasey, and he didn’t let in any goals, which is all you can ask a goalkeeper to do.

“Antti Niemi is being plagued by the wrist that he injured in pre-season, and it still isn’t 100% right, but the good thing about having three goalkeepers (Keller, Niemi and Tony Warner) is that it gives us good competition.

“Some players might not like that, but the facts of life are that you need competition if you are a Premier League club.

“Antti was fantastic for us last year, and I have said before that we would have been relegated without the saves he made late in the season.

“But that was last season. With one thing and another, he wasn’t fit for pre-season, and then he was injured in the warm-up at Arsenal (on August 12).

“Unfortunately, you can’t wait for ever for players to be right. You have to look at alternatives, and if you play well, you deserve a chance.

“Kasey has the shirt, Kasey played on Saturday, and he kept a clean sheet, so it is more than likely that he will play against Portsmouth.

“But that is what football is about. If you play well, you usually stay in the team.”

Sanchez is likely to name an unchanged starting XI for the visit of Redknapp’s sixth-placed side, who are five points and 10 places above Fulham in the table.

He is still without injury victims Lee Cook, Ian Pearce, Jimmy Bullard, Philippe Christanval, Moritz Volz and Brian McBride.

Sanchez insists he has little concern about Portsmouth’s rampaging attacking play against Reading.

He added: “I thought it was a freak result, although Pompey do score a lot of goals.

“In the last period of the match, goals rained in, and there could even have been more goals.”