Scott Parker delighted with Freddie Woodman signing but Newcastle keeper has a battle on his hands

Bournemouth boss Scott Parker will persist with first-choice goalkeeper Mark Travers despite signing Freddie Woodman on deadline day.

The 24-year-old shot-stopper started the season as number one at Newcastle due to Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow being sidelined.

A poor performance away at Man Utd forced Steve Bruce to drop him from the side - and he has not been seen since.

Ex-Magpies skipper Parker offered Woodman an escape route on the south coast as the young goalkeeper looks to gain valuable first-team experience.

However, any suggestion of an easy path to the starting line-up was refuted by the Cherries boss ahead of their FA Cup clash with Boreham Wood.

"Travs has got the shirt at the moment,” Parker said.

"Travs has done incredibly well. But if you want to be operating where we’re operating – you look at the other teams that want to expect to go up automatically - those clubs have strong competition in all positions.

"I certainly feel in the keeper position we have exactly that now. So, it is good competition for Trav and obviously Fred will push. (He’s) an extremely experienced keeper in this division that brings big quality to us, so I’m looking forward to him pushing Trav.”

The 41-year-old admitted he is ‘glad’ Woodman chose to join Bournemouth and acknowledged the experience gained in the Championship while playing for Swansea.

Parker added: “He brings experience in this division.

"He has played a lot of football in this division, a lot of games. I think his distribution is very good, his shot-stopping too. I think he's an all-round very good keeper, who is growing.

"He's a big character. Everything I've heard about Freddie, all the references I've got regarding him as a person, what he stands for and his