JON McLAUGHLIN has been backed to bounce back from his FA Cup blunder for Sunderland after the international break, even if he faces tough competition from a player tipped to play at a higher level.

The Scotland goalkeeper has failed to hit the heights of his first season on Wearside as yet and his howler against Gillingham last Saturday was perceived by many as the latest of a few mistakes this season.

He lost his place to Lee Burge for the Wycombe game last month when Phil Parkinson was brought in to replace Jack Ross, but has been back in the thick of things again in the last few games because of a thigh injury to Burge.

The Gillingham error, though, could well mean Burge finds himself back in the side if he feels no after-effects to his return to action in Tuesday’s woeful defeat at Scunthorpe.

And Sunderland’s new goalkeeper coach Lee Butler, who worked with McLaughlin at Bradford for a year, is determined to do what he can to get the 32-year-old back to his best.

“I have worked my magic on him already, last week I worked on him looking to catch, the ball hitting his legs and then slipping through!” joked Butler.

“Seriously, though, we know what we are doing as staff and they are goalkeepers, so there is only so much you can do. They know there are different exercises to do, so it doesn’t become mundane. We do more or the less the same things, dressed up differently, to try to get keepers out of certain spells they are in.

“I tried to work harder whenever I was having a bad patch. We didn’t have specialised coaching then, so I had to keep working hard believing things will change. Sometimes It might be good to take your foot off, time out, it’s hard because it can be different for certain individuals.

“Talking to Jon he thinks there were a couple of goals he could have done better with before we came in, and then Saturday’s. People have different ideas on who was at fault. He has now gone away and it might be a good thing that he has this break from the routine. We will see how he is.”

McLaughlin has had spells in different divisions during a career than has also taken him north of the border to Hearts. His performances last season made him one of the Ross' best signings and were enough to secure his place back in the national team squad.

He is with the Scotland squad looking to figure against Cyprus on Saturday and then Kazakhstan on Tuesday as Steve Clarke's side finish their Euro qualifying campaign.

Butler is a former keeper with Aston Villa, Barnsley, Wigan and Halifax, and has worked under Parkinson at Bradford and Bolton, so is excited to have moved to Sunderland for his next stint.

As well as working with McLaughlin again, the 53-year-old is looking ahead to see if Burge can fulfil his potential.

The 26-year-old moved from Coventry in the summer and Butler is convinced Sunderland have someone who could even play at the highest level.

Butler said: “Lee is someone I have known about for a while because I get on with his agent – one of the few I get on with – and I have always been impressed with Lee over the years. He has all the attributes to be a top keeper.

“I have said that to him, that I have watched him a lot, and he could certainly be a Championship keeper, like a Dean Henderson who has pushed on through the leagues. Dean has found the Premier League as easy as the rest of the leagues.

“Lee is very calm in the goal. He is not 100 per cent fitness wise at the moment but he is still very calm. You don’t like to see a nervous keeper. He makes saves, makes good decisions and ticks a lot of boxes.”