Goalkeeper keen to stay for years to come
James Shea says he would love to be AFC Wimbledon’s number one for years to come and fulfil a dream one day of playing at a new stadium in Plough Lane.
The 23-year-old recently signed a new deal at Wimbledon in his first season after stepping up from playing Ryman Premier League football with Harrow Borough.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s match at Cambridge United during an interview for Dons Player, the former Arsenal goalkeeper spoke enthusiastically about his future with AFC Wimbledon.
“You would certainly not hear me complaining if I was stepping out at the new stadium,” he told WDON commentator Rob Cornell. “It would be a dream to do that and hopefully it will get sorted out soon. I was over the moon to sign a new deal at Wimbledon and it’s something I could not have imagined a year ago.
“Sometimes it’s the best thing to have that escape from a big club and play games at a lower club. You enjoy your football again and moving to Harrow Borough was the best decision I ever made. I played games and got experience. It’s all worked out really well for me so far since I joined Wimbledon.”
Shea has adjusted in recent months to playing behind several different defenders, but he believes the management team have established a good defensive shape after a run of just one defeat in six League 2 games.
“There has been a lot of change from the start of this season and we’ve had so many different centre-backs,” added Shea. “But we’ve managed to keep a couple of clean sheets in recent weeks against good teams. I would like to think that we’ve still looked solid even with the different partnerships that we’ve had, especially since Deji Oshilaja came in. Hopefully, Deji and Dave Winfield can work well together.
“We are expecting a massive reaction from Cambridge tonight after Saturday (6-2 home defeat to Portsmouth). They will probably come out all guns blazing and we will need to be ready.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch the full video interview with James Shea on our premium channel, along with Neal Ardley’s seven-minute update ahead of Cambridge.