Elliot Parish says he is ready to step up to the plate and take his Colchester United opportunity with both hands.

The 25-year-old is ready for an extended run in the U’s starting line-up, after fellow keeper Sam Walker suffered a long-term knee injury against Reading.

Parish signed a one-year deal with Colchester last month, having initially linked up with them during pre-season after leaving Blackpool.

The former Aston Villa shot-stopper made his U’s debut in their 2-2 draw with the Tangerines last weekend.

And while he says he has sympathy for Walker’s plight, Parish says he is keen to now show what he can do for the U’s.

Parish said: “I think this is a chance for me to firmly establish myself as a Football League goalkeeper.

“I have aspirations to be at the top level and little opportunities like these are something I’ve got to take.

“I’ve trained with some top goalkeepers and got a lot of knowledge from them and been at some good clubs.

“I’ve done my apprenticeship now - I’m 25 years old and any chance I get, I need to kick on now and show some people what I’m all about.

“It’s happened in unfortunate circumstances and Sam was having a great game, as well.

“He’s a top lad and a great goalkeeper but that’s football and I’m here to do a job now and I have to take my chance.

“The manager said to me when I first came here to go out and impress.

“I had a good pre-season and played a lot of minutes, before playing against Blackpool.

“As soon as I came here, I’ve been given a lot of confidence from the way it’s run and through the way the manager runs this club.”

Parish is set to start between the sticks for Colchester when they travel to play Peterborough United in League One tomorrow.

It will be his first-ever appearance at London Road and is hoping they can follow up their opening-day draw with Blackpool with a win at Posh.

“It’ll be nice to get that first win on Saturday,” said Parish, who appeared as a second-half substitute for Colchester in their Capital One Cup tie against Reading.

“We have to take a lot of confidence from the way we performed against Reading and really kick on from there.”