Sheffield Wednesday rivals Joe Wildsmith and Cameron Dawson will battle it out for no.1 spot in years ahead says Garry Monk

Wildsmith, 24, was handed his first Owls appearance since August 2018 in Wednesday's FA Cup exit to Manchester City and had an impressive overall contribution in making a number of key saves, even if he will have been disappointed with letting Sergio Aguero's 53th-minute strike squeeze past him.

It was the only blemish in a strong night for Wildsmith, sidelined for most of this campaign after suffering a knee injury in pre-season.

After playing second fiddle to Dawson and Keiren Westwood last term, Wildsmith is playing catch-up - but with veteran keeper Westwood not in Garry Monk's plan, the Sheffielder now has the platform to push good friend Dawson for number one duties if he stays clear of injury.

Monk said: "It will be interesting in seasons to come with those two. The competition is there and they have a lot of respect for each other.

"It is a competition between both of them - same with all places (across the team). It is great; those two are young keepers making their way. They are not 'young, young', but they are young enough to be there.

"To have two young quality keepers is a really good, strong thing for the club. They are only going to get better by pushing each other every day in training.

"It will be interesting to see that battle in the coming weeks, months and hopefully years to come.

On his decision to start Wildsmith in the televised fixture, he added: "It was also to reward Joe. He had a big injury and has come back later into the season.

"But he has been training hard and getting himself fitter and fitter and he deserved this reward as well. That was the reason behind playing him and it was a fantastic contribution."

Wildsmith's previous appearance came in the EFL Cup home tie with Wolves on August 28, 2018.

His last league start came back in April 2018, a 2017-18 season which saw him make 29 first-team appearances.