Former Arsenal keeper Tom Smith out to seize U's opportunity

Now the time has come for the young Colchester United goalkeeper to cash in on his rich potential – both on and off the pitch.

Opportunity knocks for the 21-year-old tomorrow; he is set to start for the first time this season when the U’s visit Forest Green Rovers.

And in the coming days, the former Arsenal youngster will take his final exam in studying for his Economics degree at the London School of Economics, ahead of graduating next year.

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“One thing my parents were always quite keen on was education,” said Smith.

“Arsenal were great in supporting me through that and putting me through it all.

“It’s definitely something I’ve loved doing and it helps that it’s not always football, football, football – it allows you to separate your time.

“I’m also quite glad that it’s coming to an end, because it’s been a busy few years with it.

“I’m quite excited for the rest and to get home and just sit on the sofa and go ‘that’s my day done’.

“There’s a possibility of doing something more but I’m also an open book and I’m not particularly thinking about it right now.”

This weekend, Smith is aiming to profit on the pitch.

Having had to be patient for his chance, Owen Goodman’s selection for England under-20s has opened a door for him to start for the first time since re-joining Colchester on a permanent basis, this summer.

He said: “Hopefully I’ll be back involved and I’m looking forward to it.

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“It’s a bit of an opportunity for me so hopefully, I can go out and play well and then start putting some questions into the gaffer’s head.

“It was tricky at the start, because I missed a lot of pre-season.

“I had to do a three-week extended training programme for the first few weeks of the season and Owen has had a good start to the season.

“Obviously I want to play every game but it’s not like I’m annoyed and myself, Owen and Sam work well together as a team.

“I had it similar last season with Kieran O’Hara, where I came in for the first eight or nine games and didn’t play and then, there was an injury in the last six games and I did play.

“I know that’s what’s going to happen with goalkeepers and it’s going to happen to me, probably another ten times in my career, if not more.

“You’ve just got to be ready at all times and train hard.

“It’s not been ideal, not playing but at the same time being a goalkeeper is a bit like that.

“I feel like I’ve still improved, over the last ten weeks and I’m definitely happy to be back.”

Smith enjoyed a successful spell at Colchester last season, playing six times at the end of last season while on loan from Arsenal.

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The shot-stopper left the Gunners after 14 years this summer but feels it was the right time to move on for pastures new.

“I’d reached a limit there and was getting no further and I loved it at Colchester,” said Smith.

“Because I’d been on loan for the last three years of my time at Arsenal, I was sort of ready for it.

“I’ve had a few loan spells and being around senior football at a good level is better than hanging about in academies.

“Training is more intense and you’re striving for something a bit more, as a group.

“Also I think having a bit of a long summer helped me to mentally adapt to the fact that my career was changing.

“Because I’d made Colchester my home for six months, it was quite an easy transition here.

“It also helps that the style of football we’re playing is not too dissimilar, so it makes me feel like I can do a good job here, which is always helpful.

“The group of boys are great here and I had a really good connection with the gaffer and the coaching staff, so I knew I’d be happy here and enjoying coming back.”

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Bizarrely, Smith played against Colchester for League One side Stevenage in a pre-season friendly at St Neots Town, just days before joining the U’s on a two-year contract.

Smith said: “The club at the end of last season said ‘we want you to come back’.

“It took a long time to get things sorted, so I went to other clubs for brief spells.

“I actually played against Colchester for Stevenage.

“It was quite funny, as not many of the boys knew I was playing in that match.

“I think I saw Dean the kit man first – he said ‘what are you doing here?’ and I said ‘I’m on the other team today!’

“It was weird but at the same time, it made me miss Colchester as well and seeing all of the boys, my friends and the staff – it made me want to come back even more.

“But we were talking to the club pretty much every week and keeping tabs, just waiting for the right opportunity where from their side, everything was in place and from my side, the same thing.

“It took a long time but I always knew that it was going to happen.”

Colchester face an important game tomorrow at bottom club Forest Green Rovers.

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The U’s are aiming to bounce back from a demoralising 3-1 home defeat to Morecambe, with three points separating the two sides in the League Two table.

Smith added: “As players, we don’t really look at the table as such.

“We’re thinking ‘this is how they play, this is how we play and this is how we can beat them’.

“We go into every game thinking we can win and backing ourselves to win.

“The most frustrating part about this whole season is we’ve been in most games and had chances.

“In some games, we haven’t quite performed to our levels but we know we can.

“We discussed this week as a group of players how to get that consistency and that starts on the training pitch and demanding high levels from each other and pushing each other, to get to the next level.

“Training has been really intense and there’s been a lot of internal competition whether that be one v one, shooting drills, small sided games, to really get that intensity and competitiveness flowing for this weekend.

“As a team, we’re confident that we can get it right.”