New York youngster Josh Ford has been named as the third goalkeeper for the Seattle Sounders playing roster for 2011.

The 23-year old was drafted by the Sounders in the supplemental draft in January and has been fighting for a place on the team all throughout pre-season.

This week, Ford was told he had won the third keeping spot by head coach Sigi Schmid and he is expected to sign a professional contract very soon.

He said he was looking forward to developing his game further under the likes of Kasey Keller and Terry Boss.

"It's really good to be with a great team," Ford told the Seattle Times.

"I've experienced a little bit of it, with the fans and everything like that, and I couldn't ask for more. (I'm) really excited to be behind Kasey and Boss, but I'm still going to be competing every day and learning every day."