Yahoo Sports Burnley's Trafford is heading for the top - Parker
Burnley head coach Scott Parker is not putting any ceiling on James Trafford's potential after witnessing his goalkeeping heroics against Sunderland.
Trafford saved two Wilson Isidor penalties in the last 10 minutes of the match at Turf Moor to earn his side a goalless draw.
It is part of a stellar season for the 22-year old, who has conceded just eight goals in 26 appearances for the Clarets.
"For sure, this is a boy with absolutely humongous potential," said Parker. "But I still think there is so much more to come from him.
"I've seen a real development in him this season and there is no better goalkeeper in and around this division."
Trafford and Burnley have the best defence in English football with only nine goals conceded in their 27 Championship matches, a rate of 0.33 goals per game, and they have not let in more than one in any league match.
It is in marked contrast to their struggles last season when they were in the Premier League.
Then aged 20, Trafford was signed for £15 million by Parker's predecessor Vincent Kompany and endured a difficult baptism in the top flight.
He conceded 61 goals in 28 games - a rate of 2.18 - and only managed two clean sheets before Kompany took him out of the firing line for the final 10 games of the season.
When Parker arrived in east Lancashire last summer, he sensed that his young goalkeeper had been scarred but he is delighted with how Trafford has turned it around.
'This is a special goalkeeper'
"I've got nothing but positive things to say about James," he said.
"When I first came in, there were some struggles and he came off the back of a difficult season.
"For such a young boy coming into that division, he had some hard times, some challenging times.
"But this is a special goalkeeper. He has absolutely huge potential. I would have said the same thing last week or four weeks ago.
"He is confident, he believes in himself and you need that to get to the top, top level. He has that and he backs it up with what he does in between the posts."
Trafford himself recognises that learning on the job in the Premier League may have been difficult, a division with some of the best goalkeepers in world football like Liverpool's Alisson and Emiliano Martinez at Aston Villa.
But that has been the bedrock for his outstanding consistency in the division below.
"Last year, the average age of a goalkeeper in the Premier League was 28, 29 so I was nine years off the average," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"It shows it is a massive experience-based role for a goalkeeper. But I improved massively and I'm aware of that.
"I've improved in a lot of things, whether it's on the ball, off the ball, defending space or the area, personality, confidence. And I'll continue to improve."
