"I am not worried," insisted Kalac. "I hope to be the first choice. Last season I did well and would like to still have the faith of the Coach and club at the start of this new term.

"As always, what happens on the pitch will be the judge. Christian and Nelson are good goalkeepers and people. One of the three has to go in the stands."

Kalac freely admits he has done himself no favours during his summer vacation back home.

"The goalkeeping Coach called up exactly one month after I left and warned me not to come back huge and fat! I put on a couple of kilos, but nothing worrying.

"I did everything in my time away except sleep. At night my friends would meet up and watch the Euro 2008 matches on television," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

"This meant kick-off times at 2am and 4.45am. I was a wreck, basically. Still, it was a relaxing break after a great season in which I was finally able to prove what I can do."