Set to make his fourth appearance of the campaign for Wednesday this evening at Bolton, Joe Wildsmith admits he didn’t see his first team opportunity come so soon but the youngster is determined to take it.
Having made his first league start at Burnley last weekend, the 19-year-old performed admirably against the Clarets, making a number of quality saves at Turf Moor.
And on the subject of playing Championship football, he said:
“I didn’t expect to be in this position. Obviously with Price coming in and Westwood doing so well last season, I didn’t see my chance in the first team at all.
“But certain injuries and niggles have come around and it has given me my chance and hopefully I have done enough to take that.
“It means so much to everyone on the pitch, winning is the only option, it’s more physical, a lot more depends on it, it’s louder, communication is key and you have got to trust people.
“Hopefully I have shown that I can be trusted and hopefully that will give me more chances in the future and start more games.
“A little bit of nerves is alright, it gets you through the game and a bit of adrenaline but going into games, I just get my head right and go into them as calm as possible.”
As Wednesday aim for a return to winning ways in the Championship at the Macron Stadium, Wildsmith says three points would be the perfect tonic and just reward for the quality of football that has been on show.
He added: “The atmosphere around the club is superb but a win would boost it up and is what we need.
“If we keep playing like we did on Saturday, we will definitely get that win.”