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Inside View with Charlton goalkeeper Rob Elliot

Rob Elliot
Rob Elliot

Things veered from delight to frustration for me in the space of 24 hours last week.

The day before the match against Norwich, I signed a new contract to keep me at the club until at least 2012.

That was great news for me, but by Saturday night I was bemoaning the loss of two potential points after the referee didn’t penalise the challenge on me that led to Norwich’s equaliser.

Dealing with the contract first, of course, given my background, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

It was Phil Parkinson who gave me my first proper run in the first team last season, and now he’s shown further faith in me, I’m going all out to repay that.

Before he made his comments on my new contract to the press, he took me to one side and told me what he intended to say, and I appreciated that.

He told me that while I had deservedly earned a new deal, this was just the latest step on the ladder for me, and that I had to continue to strive to improve, both to help my own personal career and the club.

I couldn’t agree more. I don’t think we could have asked for a better start to this season but, like my new contract, it’s just the start.

We’ve got to keep things going to get the club back to where we want to be.

I’ve had two games without a clean sheet now, after four in a row, and I’m looking to get back to seeing a zero on the scoreline next to our opponent’s name.

That wouldn’t have been the case last Saturday, but we still felt hard done by when the referee didn’t blow for a free-kick as Grant Holt challenged me.

You can have all the arguments in the world about whether those challenges should be allowed in the modern game or not, but the fact is that 99 times out of 100 they result in a free-kick for the goalkeeper.

This was clearly the 100th time, but the good news is that we’re still unbeaten this season despite two back-to-back tough fixtures against the clubs which were relegated alongside us in May.

And although we are no longer at the top of the table, we’re in a great position after eight games.

There are some big games to come, though, with Colchester, Leeds and Gillingham away both on the horizon, as well as Huddersfield at home, but we are in good form, playing well and are relishing the task ahead – starting with Exeter at The Valley this Saturday.

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