He is still recovering from a broken bone in his hand and it could be the end August before he is back and challenging in the squad.
This will be the final season of the keeper’s current contract so he knows a lot rests on him returning to fitness.
“This is the last season of my contract and I want to make sure I get another one,” said the former England U21 stopper.
“The club has backed me all the way over my knee transplant and given me time to recover and now I want to show them that faith was not misplaced.
“I want to put pressure on David James for that number one slot.
“I am gutted about the injury because I felt as if I was coming into form and I was feeling like my old self again.
“I don’t know whether that is good or bad and was expecting this to be a really big year for me.”
And driving on the twenty six year old to overcome the injury and challenge David James is the memory of the reception he received from the fans on the last day of the season.
He came on to rapturous applause as a second half substitute and then showed that he had lost none of his sharpness with a spectacular save.
“If I think about the reception I received from the fans I still get a lump in my throat now,” he added.
“I couldn’t believe it. You always wonder if the rapport will still be there after so long on the sidelines and I didn’t expect that kind of welcome at all.
“It just made me more determined to stay even longer and get back in the first team.”
