Goalkeeper Adam Collin made an unexpected second United debut on Saturday afternoon against Crewe after fellow stopper Joe Fryer was forced off with an injury, later confirmed to be a break to his tibia and fibula..
We caught up with him this week to get his thoughts on his return to the action.
“Life as a goalkeeper means you have to be ready to go all of the time,” he said. "Whether you’re playing or the one sitting on the bench, you’ve got to be ready. To come on at a tough time in the game after a major injury is always difficult, but I just tried to help the team out as best I could.
“I don’t think it’s nerves as such, but as a keeper on the bench you don’t generally expect to have to come on. To lose Joe [Fryer] to that type of injury is such a big blow and it was a shock to everyone when it happened. You’ve just got to get on with it, so that's what I did."
Speaking more about the moment when Fryer went down, under a heavy challenge from Paul Green, he said: “As soon as the challenge went in I think the whole stadium did one of those ‘oooh’ noises because you could tell it was a bad one.
"When Dolly went on the pitch the lads were telling me to warm up because everyone could see Joe would have to come off.
“We obviously do the warm up before the game, and I always do little bits at half time just to make sure I'm ready if I do have to come on for any reason. It’s a horrible way to get onto the pitch, but it's important to be ready and be as professional as you can be, not just on match days, but in training as well."
“I think in any game, whether you start or come on as a sub, you just want the first thing you do to go well," he told us. "Whether it’s an easy kick or an easy catch, or whatever. It just sets you up for the game.
"Once the game restarted I just tried to keep things as simple as possible and go from there."
One noticeable feature was the positive reaction from the fans when he crossed the white line to take his place between the sticks.
“The fans have been great since I came back to the club in the summer and it was nice to get a round of applause when I came on on Saturday," he admitted. "I’m just looking forward to trying to kick on now really.
“I came here because I want to play games so I’ve just got to take my chance and try and put some good performances in now. I want to play games, it’s really frustrating sitting on the bench, but you’ve got to handle that and just wait for your chance.
“Joe came in and did really well. He’s been solid in the games. It’s never nice to get an injury - I got one last year when I was flying, I did my knee, and it is hard, especially as a goalkeeper. Joe is young, and I’m sure he’ll come back twice as strong."
“We got a joint clean sheet on Saturday and I just want to try and build on that now," he continued. "Dan [Watson] has been good to work with, he’s kept me sharp and he did the same with Joe, so it’s been enjoyable.
“I will be working on more game related things in training this week, but I won’t be taking anything for granted because I know the gaffer will be looking to bring another goalkeeper in. I know I'm still going to have to compete if I want to play.
"The Mansfield game will be a difficult game, it’s where I live as well, but I’ll just take everything in my stride and get on with it. We’ve had a great start and we’re in a good position in the league and we just want to carry that on and keep the momentum going.
"Mansfield have probably got one of the best squads in the league, they did well against West Brom on Tuesday night as well, so we know they’ll be tough to play against. We’ll respect that, but it will be about us taking care of ourselves on Saturday.”
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