Trawlerboys turn to Jake once again

Mark Armstrong Tuesday, November 29, 2011
10:33 AM

Lowestoft Town will once again turn to rookie goalkeeper Jake Jessup for tonight’s Ryman League Premier clash at home to Metropolitan Police, kick-off 7.45pm.

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Jessup once again impressed during the Blues’ FA Trophy win at the weekend to set up a first round proper tie at Salisbury on December 10 after first choice goalkeeper Andy Reynolds suffered an ankle injury in training.

Lowestoft are waiting on the results of a scan to ascertain the extent of the damage and while Lowestoft director of football, Craig Fleming, has faith in the 18-year-old’s ability, he admitted the loss of Reynolds is a blow.

“Jake’s a really good prospect but Andy is obviously a big loss for us because I feel that he is one of the best goalkeepers around in non league football - I’ve certainly not seen many better,” said the former Norwich City star. “But Jake has come in and it’s good to have him as back-up because he is a good keeper.”

Fleming revealed the Blues may have to bring in an emergency keeper if the injury to Reynolds proves worse than first feared.

“We may have a bit of a problem for the Trophy tie because Jake’s likely to be suspended but we’re hoping Andy will recover in time. We haven’t got to make a decision at the moment so we’ll wait and see.”

Fleming admitted the management team faces a selection headache ahead of tonight’s clash after Jamie Forshaw came off the bench to inspire the Blues to victory at Harlow on Saturday.

Forshaw has had to be content with a role on the bench so far this season but Fleming admitted he had pushed his claims for a starting place.

“Jamie’s a bit of an enigma,” admitted Fleming, who welcomes back Dale Cockrill back into the squad this evening although Adrian Forbes is a doubt with a calf injury. “He wears his heart on his sleeve and when things aren’t going right, he shows it.

“We had a good heart to heart the other day and he came on and he was electric - that’s what he can do.

“He is finding his feet again and hopefully he can start producing that on a consistent basis.

“It’s a nice problem to have - we’ve obviously got Ebus (Onuchukwu) as well, who is raw, but a real prospect and we’ve also got Forbesy to come back in.

“We are trying to emphasise to the players that it’s a squad game - teams win matches but squads win championships.”

Reflecting on the Blues’ draw for the first round proper of the FA Trophy against Salisbury City, Fleming said: “It’s a difficult draw - we would have obviously preferred to be at home. But it’s a game that I think both sides will think they have a chance of winning.”