Racking up the minutes

THERE’S a stat doing the rounds that states that no-one has played more League Two minutes over the last two seasons than I have and it’s one that I’m proud of.

I couldn’t ask for any more, especially given the magnitude of the knee injury I suffered a couple of seasons ago where you’re looking to get fit and regain your form.

I’ve put the hard work in throughout and I feel fitter and stronger than I have ever done before and I’m in the best place I’ve ever been with my goalkeeping, too.

A very late night

I ROLLED in at around 4am on Wednesday morning and I can’t think of too many trips as long as the one up to Morecambe on a Tuesday night.

We’ve had a midweek game at Newport County earlier this season but it was nothing compared to that trip, which even going up on a Friday is a long one which makes the support of the 52 Colchester fans who made the journey up to Lancashire to get behind us even more of an incredible effort.

That was the story of Tuesday night.

It’s such a long way to go, especially with the weather not great but it was an unbelievable effort by all of them and we made sure that we went over to them at the end of the game to thank them.

It was a small crowd there but that didn’t really affect us as players.

When you go to a place like Morecambe, you know that it’s unlikely to be a big crowd especially on a Tuesday night.

Clean sheet was a big positive

THE clean sheet we kept at Morecambe was the big positive for me.

I set high standards for myself every time I play and I looked to keep clean sheets in every match – we set high demands as a defensive unit.

At our end of the pitch, we don’t always have control over how many goals we score but we can have a big input in how many we concede.

We’ve defended well whether we’ve played three or four at the back and regardless of the shape and personnel we adopt.

I think in general this season we’ve defended tremendously well and even over recent weeks where we’ve been on the wrong end of a couple of 1-0 losses, we’ve still been a pretty solid unit.

It was the same at Morecambe and we limited them to only a few chances.

It was a shame for Frankie Kent that he had to drop out of the starting line-up at the last minute because of a knee injury but Tom Eastman came in, in his place and did a good job and they’ve both been very reliable for us this season.

We were aware before kick-off that Frankie was carrying a knock and I think it was a case of being safe and not sorry.

I think 0-0 was probably a fair result in the end and we know that we’re lacking a bit of a cutting edge at the moment, with our final third play.

We’re not creating the weight of chances we were earlier in the season but they didn’t have many, either.

But there haven’t been too many games this season where teams have opened us up, aside from perhaps Cheltenham Town at home and Luton Town away.

I'm relishing derby prospect

WE have a bit of a local derby on Saturday when we make the short trip to play Stevenage.

I always enjoy playing there and we usually take a good away following to Hertfordshire, so hopefully that will be the same again.

They’ve just appointed Dino Maamria as their new manager and he’s a bit of a favourite with their fans, having played for them and also been their assistant manager in the past.

It should make for a good atmosphere and it’s a game we’ll look forward to and look to get those elusive three points.

The last few weeks have not really helped our cause but as professionals, we have to believe that we can win every game that we go into and see where that takes us.

We won’t look too far ahead and I think it’s simply a case of taking one game at a time – we’ll try and get that win on the board and move up the table.

Keeper's spot up for grabs

THE England goalkeeper situation is certainly a hot topic at the moment, with the World Cup only a few months away now.

The biggest thing for me is that it should be the one who’s playing and is in the best form, come the end of the season.

Joe Hart has been out of the West Ham team up until recently and Gareth Southgate has generally stayed loyal to him.

Nick Pope at Burnley is also in contention but I think it could be a bit premature and I personally think it’s probably between Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford for that number one spot.

I would go for Butland because of the experience he’s gained from being at major tournaments – I think that would give him the edge.

But there’s still a couple more months of the Premier League season to go and we should probably reserve judgement until the end.

Mourinho expects high standards

THERE’S been a lot of talk again this week about Luke Shaw and the treatment he’s supposedly getting from Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.

I think it’s very difficult to comment on something like that because we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and it’s clearly a day to day relationship between manager and player, at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

But one thing I do think is that Jose Mourinho expects and demands high standards from all of his players and if he doesn’t feel he’s getting that, he will come down on them.

In professional football, there are so many different players with different personalities, attitudes and abilities and I think managers generally like some more than others.

The running joke at most training grounds is that some players are a bit of a manager’s pet or manager’s son but I’ve never come across a manager who I’ve played for who hasn’t been fair.

Bale's golf course is down to a tee

HAVE you seen Gareth Bale’s back garden mini golf course? It’s unbelievable.

Apparently, he’s chosen to replicate the 12th hole at Augusta, Royal Troon's Postage Stamp and the tricky par-three 17th at Sawgrass on his Welsh estate.

As a keen golfer, that would definitely be on my dream home list.

I don’t know what handicap he plays off but I should imagine he will become pretty hot, with that course to play on.

If I had something like that in my back garden, I’m sure a lot of my team-mates would be knocking on my door asking for a game!

Tea bags? Give me coffee every time!

IT sounds as though England will be taking Jaffa Cakes, baked beans and tea bags to the World Cup with them, this summer.

If you ask me, it’s a little unnecessary – it’s not as if Russia is on another planet and it’s a bit naïve to think they wouldn’t have things like that there!

Saying that, if I had the choice to take anything with me to a tournament I think it would have to be coffee.