Wycombe Wanderers penalty king fighting for future with United

Sep 9 2011 By Chris Slavin

Steve Arnold

STEVE Arnold says that extending his stay with Hayes and Yeading is the perfect way to relaunch a football career that was going nowhere at Wycombe Wanderers.

The 22-year-old goalkeeper has now been snapped up on a season-long loan deal by Hayes and Yeading after a superb start to the season that has included saving four penalties.

Arnold accepts that as he is out of contract at Wycombe Wanderers next summer, he could leave without making a single appearance for the first-team at Adams Park.

"I am absolutely buzzing about staying here," said Arnold, who kept his first clean sheet this season in Sunday's 1-0 win over Tamworth. "From my point of view if I can keep my place and get 40 or 50 games under my belt then it will be looking good for next season for me.

"I have a year left at Wycombe so it is ideal. The aim is to hopefully get myself a league club. It is better for me at Hayes and Yeading rather than sitting on the bench at Wycombe just wasting away. For the past 18 months it has just been the reserves for me at Wycombe and that has been too easy - you do not get anything from it.

"They have Nikki Bull there who is a great goalkeeper."

Though it may be just a one-season stay at Hayes and Yeading for Arnold, he is eager to reward boss Nas Bashir for showing faith in him by keeping the club safe from relegation.

However, building up something of a reputation as a penalty-saving expert has comes as a surprise to him.

"It is just down to pot-luck and going with your instinct," he added. "You just have to make your mind up and go one way, but I will take keeping a clean sheet over saving penalties any day. For me, it is all about keeping Hayes and Yeading up now and pushing up the table.

"It is a pleasure to play for Nas as we play in the right way. We build from the back and that is perfect for me as that is what they do at Wycombe. They are a great bunch of lads here and we have a great team spirit."

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