Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper, Joe Wildsmith, has been backed by Chris Kirkland to retain his starting berth in the first-team despite competition from Cameron Dawson.

Garry Monk has departed Hillsborough this week and has found himself torn over who would be his first-choice goalkeeper in the Championship.

Dawson, 25, had control of the gloves at the start of the season, but Monk appeared to start losing faith towards the final weeks of his tenure in-charge, recalling Wildsmith.

Speaking to Football League World, former Wednesday goalkeeper, Kirkland, admitted that Wildsmith would be the player he selects in goal moving forwards.

“I would probably start Joe," he said. "Listen there's not much in between them, but Joe is calmer, for me. 

“Cammy gets very animated on the pitch. He shouts at his defenders quite a lot if goals go in, it's almost the same reaction every time.  

“He's jumping in the air spinning around; I don't like to see that. He had it when I was there he used to kick the post if he let a goal in. I tried to get it out of him saying: ‘Listen, you don’t have to do that, it looks bad.’ You just look an idiot when you do it, you do.

“So Joe, for me, probably just because of his I think he's got a slightly better attitude.”

In Wildsmith’s three appearances in the Championship this season, Wednesday have conceded just once, with the 24-year-old beaten in the 1-0 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers.

Wildsmith kept back-to-back clean sheets against AFC Bournemouth and Millwall in wake of that, but Monk lost his job earlier this week at Hillsborough.

Keiren Westwood is the most experienced goalkeeper on the books at Hillsborough, with the 36-year-old failing to source a summer move.