MATT Ingram is looking to keep Jamie Cumming on his toes following his impressive performance in Oxford United’s Carabao Cup exit.

The 30-year-old was arguably United’s man of the match at Coventry City in midweek, with a highlight being two excellent saves in the space of just a couple of minutes.

The first saw him tip wide a Brandon Thomas-Asante header which looked destined to nestle inside the post, and then he pushed away a driven effort aimed at the bottom corner from Victor Torp.

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It was Ingram’s second U’s appearance, after his clean sheet in the Carabao Cup first round victory at home to Peterborough United, with Cumming the current number one in Sky Bet Championship action.

Ingram said: “All I can do is perform like I have done in the last two games, but I think Jamie is doing a fantastic job.

“He deserves the number one shirt at the moment, and I’ve just got to show I’m ready to stake my claim if he gets an injury, which I hope he doesn’t, or he has a dip in form.

“He’s doing a fantastic job at the moment.

“All of us work every morning together, and we get on really well. We have a good laugh, and it’s the goalkeepers’ union, so you’ve got to support each other when the other one’s playing.

“I’ll support Jamie all the way like I would any other goalkeeper, and I hope they’d do the same.”

Ingram was only beaten at the Coventry Building Society Arena by Thomas-Asante’s deflected strike, which looped off Peter Kioso and into the back of the net.

“It was really frustrating to lose like that. The deflection has beaten me, and it went in so slowly. It felt like an age for me, as it was dipping in,” said Ingram.

“I don’t think it clicked in the final third for us. It was a tight game, and I thought we played fairly well.

“It’s tough as a goalkeeper because I planted the weight on my right-hand side, thinking it was going that way, and then it’s taken a deflection and gone to my left over my shoulder.

“I’ve got to do my best to try and recover, but I think I was waving as it went in.

“It’s just a freak. What can you do about that? If the shot goes through, I might have had it covered, or another day, it deflects over the bar. It was a freak goal.”

He added: “Watching from the sidelines, I think we’ve surprised a few people. We look a very good outfit, we’re tough to break down and we counter really quickly.

“I think we’ve surprised a few people, and Norwich obviously.”