Preston wants to keep the No.1 spot

Crawley Town goalkeeper Callum Preston wants to stake his claim to fill the goalkeeping birth.
Callum Preston makes his way to the changing rooms at half time for Crawley Town against Exeter City, 28th March 2016. (c) Jack Beard SUS-160328-171331008Callum Preston makes his way to the changing rooms at half time for Crawley Town against Exeter City, 28th March 2016. (c) Jack Beard SUS-160328-171331008
Callum Preston makes his way to the changing rooms at half time for Crawley Town against Exeter City, 28th March 2016. (c) Jack Beard SUS-160328-171331008

This follows his selection for the last two matches, despite the recruitment of new signing Jack Rose, 21, on-loan from Premier League club West Bromwich Albion.

Preston impressed between the sticks, making a few saves, including a fantastic one to deny Ollie Watkins early in the first half of Reds’ 2-0 home defeat by Exeter City on Easter Monday.

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It was the young stopper’s eighth appearance since joining Crawley having come out of Birmingham City’s academy.

This season he has had to bide his time on the bench, working with young Newcastle loanee Freddie Woodman, veteran Darryl Flahavan and the experienced Paul Jones, who has been recalled by Portsmouth.

Preston said: “I’ve had to be patient.

People forget I’m still only 20 and am still learning the game and am not the finished article yet.

“But the more games I play I feel I am getting a lot better. I am now feeling a bit more comfortable playing League Two football.

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“I’ve played eight games now and they have been great to learn off, even though Freddie was only 18 and Darryl who was 17 years older then me!

“But they have really helped me a lot with my game and now I feel I am feeling the benefit of it.

“League Two football is very direct and you can create chances from the goalkick, particularly with someone like Matt Harrold in the side.

“I want to be the best I can be - I prefer to play in front of a big crowd, as a young lad you dream of playing in as big a house and in the best atmosphere possible.

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“We’ve shown we can beat get something from the bigger teams, having beaten Bristol Rovers here, Luton away and drawn with Plymouth and hopefully we can get something from the game.

“I’ve really settled down here and I’d love to sign for next year.”

“I want to play as many games as possible and obviously Jack (Rose) does as well and we’ll be pushing each other and it will be great for us.”