More on KentOnline
Life certainly hasn’t been dull since I joined Charlton from Woking just before the start of the season.
When I arrived at the club, my aim was to improve as a player and to push Rob Elliot, indisputably the club’s No.1, for his place in the team.
I hoped I would make my debut quickly and that duly happened in the Carling Cup against Shrewsbury. But I never expected to play in the league so quickly, as I did against Huddersfield last Saturday.
Rob had a bit of a back spasm in the days leading up to the game and wasn’t quite ready to play, so I stepped in. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to win the match.
I had to write this column before Tuesday night’s match against Dagenham & Redbridge and it wasn’t clear whether Robbie would be fit or whether the manager was going to select me in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Anyway, we were in training hard over the bank holiday weekend and I was doing my utmost to show the gaffer what I can do. Things have changed quickly for me. I’ve gone from training two days a week with a non-league club and spending the summer working as a labourer on building sites, to training every day and being a professional footballer.
It’s strange how noticeable it is that I feel sharper. That’s what you’d expect, of course, and it’s been interesting to see how little things in my game improve the more time and effort I’m able to dedicate to them.
Working with a full-time goalkeeping coach, Andy Woodman, has also been great and he can offer me a huge amount of advice and experience.
My debut against Shrewsbury didn’t go quite as planned as we lost 4-3 after leading 3-0. But I couldn’t have done much about the goals and that already feels like a long time ago. The manager told me afterwards that he thought I’d done well, so that gave me some more confidence.
My next target is to play at The Valley and that will also be something special.
I spent last season playing in front of 2,000 fans at Woking, and there were just under 17,000 at the first league match at The Valley, which is massive in comparison.
It just shows Charlton is still a big club.
The atmosphere has been great at home games and I’m enjoying life at the club. The fans have also been brilliant. I’ve had a chat with a few of them on Facebook and they’ve been supportive. I just want to make them proud.