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Goalkeeper Glenn Morris admits he’s feeling ‘five years younger’ after returning to train on grass pitches.
Morris, 38, is playing at Gillingham on a loan deal until January after joining from League 2 rivals Crawley Town, where he would usually be preparing for matches on the 3G surface at Horsham.
The goalkeeper has won plenty of awards during his time at Crawley, and has spoken of his fondness for the club, but when it comes to training, nothing beats the grass for him.
He said: “I probably feel five years younger than I did at Crawley to be honest, just because you can join in with more training, I am training longer, I am working harder, I feel good for it, it has been brilliant.
“Training on grass is something I haven’t done for six years, it is making a lot of difference.
“I was restricted a bit in what I could do in training (on the 3G), for me personally, but coming to grass, it is soft and it is perfect. Our pitches are watered well and it is really good, I can’t complain.”
Morris has held onto the no.1 shirt this season ahead of former Newcastle youngster Jake Turner, having joined just before the start of the season to replace injured Charlton stopper Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
His parent club are having a tough time of it at the moment, sitting bottom of the League 2 table. They have just sacked manager Kevin Betsy after four months in charge, having won just one in 12 games.
Morris admits he hasn’t had a lot of contact with his parent club as he concentrates on keeping the Gills clear of trouble.
“Obviously that is not really my concern,” he said. “I am on loan here, I can only concentrate on Gillingham and playing here. It is obviously not nice to see. I have had a lot of good times there (at Crawley), it is a club that always will be close to me and you don’t want to see them suffering but I am sure they will pull through, they are in good hands with Lewis Young taking the reins, I am sure they will come good."
Young has taken over on an interim basis at Crawley while a permanent manager is being sought. Former Gills target Andy Woodman, manager of Bromley, has been linked to the job.
With so much uncertainty at Crawley, Morris is unlikely to have much idea of whether the West Sussex side will want him back when his current deal expires at the end of the year.
All he can do is keep his head down and continue to enjoy his time at the Gills.
Morris said: “I have had no conversations…I don’t know anything, all I can concentrate on is playing here and Gillingham.
“I am enjoying it, I am local, I like everything about being here, really it is out of my hands. All I concentrate on is the next game, boring as it sounds, that is all I can do.”
Gillingham may have struggled this season but scoring goals has been the issue. Defensively they have been relatively sound. Nobody has a better goals against record than the Gills in the bottom half of the table, with Morris helping them to five clean sheets in the league from 12 league games.
“The boys have been brilliant infront of me,” he said. “I am not getting too much work to do really, so far, which is good, you are judged on clean sheets and goals against and at the moment it is going okay and touch wood it keeps going like that.”
He’s keeping Turner out of the team. His 23-year-old understudy has had to settle for appearances in the League Cup and EFL Trophy.
“We work very well together,” Morris said. “Del (the goalkeeper coach) has been brilliant, our goalkeeping union is really strong here, I am really enjoying it, it has been different class.
“Jake has been different class. He is working well, playing well and I am sure he is chomping at the bit to get some more action.
“You can see he has a calm head which I always like in goalkeepers, you can see he doesn’t get flustered very easily, he is a fantastic goalkeeper.
“He has not got lots to work on, I think he is very competent, he should go on and have a great career.”
Morris has more experience than coach Deren Ibrahim but is grateful to have that extra input.
“You can always learn and make improvements,” he said. “There are always things that you can get pointed out to you and noticed, what has and hasn’t gone wrong, and he has been brilliant with me.
“I am just enjoying the whole process. Everyone likes to be told when they are doing something well, it is always good to have someone there and if you are not doing things well it is nice to have a little quiet word, you need to have someone to bounce things off. Goalkeepers can be on their own quite a bit, you need someone to bounce off, it is always good to have that.”
Morris might not have been overly busy this season but the visit of league leaders Stevenage this Saturday could see him having more to do. He can’t wait.
“We know what to expect and we have to stand up and be counted,” he said.
“If you don’t match their work-rate and everything else you are going to come unstuck.
“We have to be ready, if we don’t start well, if we don’t do the basics right we will be found out, so you have to stand up, push your chest out and show what you are about.
“(A win) would put a marker down because they are on a great run, top of the league, these are the games you want to play in, they are exciting. A lot of people will expect Stevenage to beat us but we don’t, we expect to put in a performance and really show what we are about.
“We are looking forward to it, in this league anyone can beat anyone on their day, we have to make sure we are ready for the fight and ready to go.”
