JAMIE Cumming became Oxford United’s second signing of the January transfer window, when he joined on loan from Chelsea.

We spoke to the Milton Keynes Citizen’s sports editor Toby Lock to find out more about the 24-year-old goalkeeper.

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What are Cumming’s main qualities and attributes? 

In terms of his build and look, he is a bit of an old school keeper. He’s tall, dominant in the air, and has a good command of his box. But he’s also good with the ball at his feet, he’s athletic and makes some big saves. He doesn’t easily fluster either and the more time went on, he became more vocal. 

How did he fare during his two spells at MK Dons? 

He put himself on the map early on with a top-drawer save at the death on his Dons debut, to secure a 2-1 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park. From there, we knew he was a proper talent. He played a key role in the way Dons drove on in the first of his two loan spells, getting agonisingly close to promotion in 2021/22.

Everyone at the club was delighted when he came back for a second spell, and felt like with him in goal, Dons had a great, solid base on which to build. It wouldn’t be that easy though, and while the rest of the team faltered, Cumming was the only consistent and positive from the season on the whole, and swept the end of season awards with the Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year prizes before the club went down.

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How good a goalkeeper is he at League One level? 

He’s one of the top keepers I’ve seen for a while. He has a real understanding of the ‘play out from the back’ mantra that is the in thing at the moment, but he’s just a classic shot-stopper as well. Cumming has had the unfortunate ‘pleasure’ of playing for two teams at the wrong end of the table, but when Dons were fighting at the sharper end as Oxford are this year, he won points for the team when it mattered.

Could he play at a higher level in your opinion?

Frankly, I think a lot of people were surprised Dons could land him for a second spell, fully expecting him to go on to the Championship to test himself. And similarly this summer, most in MK expected him to get sent out to the second tier. If he succeeds at Oxford and helps lead them into a play-off or automatic fight, it really would not surprise me to see him in the Championship next season one way or another.