Hearts of Oak head Coach David Duncan is challenging both Tetteh Lugard and Philemon McCarthy to grab the number one spot after telling footy-ghana.com that he is yet to decide who his first choice goalkeeper is.

McCarthy replaced Lugard at half time after the former Zaytuna United goalkeeper conceded a goal during Hearts of Oak’s 2-1 win over Hasaacas in Accra on Wednesday.

Duncan told footy-ghana.com that Lugard has vastly improved since last season and it will be difficult to drop him in some of the matches during the season, adding that McCarthy has fully recovered from a nagging injury and needs time to play actively.

“Lugard has improved vastly from last season, and that is what I am glad about. He made some errors and that is normal with some of the goalkeepers. Even the experienced ones make mistakes, and that is for sure. Again Philemon just recovered from an injury and it won’t be appropriate to rush him back.

“We have to study both goalkeepers as the season goes by so we will know who indeed the number one is but for now I don’t have a number one goalkeeper, because both of them are doing well.”

When asked if he feels threatened with the presence of Tetteh Lugard on the bench, former Black Stars goalkeeper McCarthy told footy-ghana.com that both keepers have to help the team, adding that his rival has done well in his absence.

“I’m not worried. When I was injured he helped the team a lot. He is a brilliant goalkeeper and all we want to do is to help the team, and that is what we want to do this season. If he is selected, fine and if I get the nod I will do my best. Our job is to help Hearts and not to compete for nothing.”