Following Edwin van der Sar's retirement, there is genuine competition for the United number one slot again. Sir Alex Ferguson likes that, if not the dissection of De Gea given the United manager's reaction to a perceived 'loaded' question by Kenny Dalglish's daughter Kelly Cates on ITV on Wednesday night immediately after his side's 1-1 draw with Benfica in Lisbon. De Gea has already been promised the starting berth for Sunday's Old Trafford showdown with Chelsea, a recognition of the improvements he has made already after a shaky start to his United career. There are some who felt Lindegaard was unlucky to be overlooked when the real games began though, given the Dane's impressive performances during pre-season. De Gea's £18million price tag probably swung it. But Lindegaard does not believe it will always be the case. "I don't feel I will always be second choice," he said. "I am never going to complain about competition. It is like that in all positions with United. That is how it should be. "The difference is there is only room for one goalkeeper in the team, unless the manager picks me as a forward, and somehow I can't see that. "My opinion does not matter. I accept the manager's choice every time. He is the best manager in the world and I will always respect his decisions. "But I am not here to just get my money. I want to be respected as a great football player." It is not so much Lindegaard is accusing Ferguson of being wrong, more that he intends to prove it. There are silver linings to being a United's back-up keeper. Being part of the set-up for some of the biggest games is one. When the Dane does play, he knows it will be in front of a huge crowd. It could also be pointed out Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak both played in - and won - Carling Cup finals, the former man scooping a man-of-the-match prize against Tottenham in 2009. But, put this to Lindegaard and you are met by a steely stare and an unequivocal response. "If you expect me to say I am happy to be number two that is not how it is," he said. "I am here because I want to be number one." Effectively, Lindegaard is saying "wrong question". "I have not had many opportunities to show who I am but things are not as clear as last year in terms of who is first and who is second. "I will just do my best every day in training. We are going into a busy programme, where we have two matches a week until January. I will make sure I am ready. "This was a step in the right direction. It was a sweet taste. It was like a little piece of dessert and you want more." Lindegaard could not have done much more in the Stadium of Light. A below-par performance overall from United compared to recent high standards represented good news for a goalkeeper who needs to keep busy. The 27-year-old had no chance of keeping out Oscar Cardozo's opener, so he escaped that mishap without a stain and in the second half he produced a couple of fine stops, first to deny Nolito, then the impressive Nicolas Gaitan, who looked like securing a home win. "As a goalkeeper you always want as little to do as possible because that shows the team has done really well," said Lindegaard. "We didn't play as well as we have done in the season so far. We didn't have the same energy. "It gave me a little something to take care of. "The reflex save I made in the second half - from Nolito - I would never have made while in Norway or Denmark, which just goes to show how much I have improved since joining United. "But the enjoyable part of a game like that is not when the media say well done, or the spectators. It is when your team-mates say it."
