U's keeper ready to fight for his place (From Essex County Standard)

U's keeper ready to fight for his place

10:26am Monday 25th June 2012 in Sport By Jonathan Waldron

Carl Pentney is ready for a pivotal season at Colchester United.

The young goalkeeper has penned a new deal to stay at the U’s for another 12 months.

Pentney, 22, is still waiting his competitive debut for Colchester, two years after arriving at the club.

The former Leicester City shot-stopper, has found himself down the pecking order at the Weston Homes Community Stadium behind Ben Williams and Mark Cousins.

It is still unclear on whether Williams will remain with the U’s next season, with the former Manchester United trainee yet to sign a new deal.

However, Pentney knows that the forthcoming season is a big one in his career - whether Williams stays or not.

Pentney said: “It’s an important year coming up for me personally.

“I just want to push on and hopefully challenge for a first-team place.

“There’s a lot of good goalkeepers at the club and it’s a strong position for us.

“I don’t know what’s happening with Ben’s situation.

“But there’s also myself, Mark Cousins and younger goalkeepers like Shaun Phillips.

“Competition for places is always healthy, especially in the goalkeeper department.

“There’s a healthy rivalry between us but we all get on well.”

See Monday's Gazette for more on this story and all of the latest Colchester United news.