Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Robert Sanchez expressed his delight after earning another three years to continue his development on the south coast, as he signed a new contract with the Seagulls.
The goalkeeper has been in great form for Simon Rusk’s under-23 side this season, and is determined to continue working hard to improve his game over the coming years.
He said, “I’m happy because I’ve got another three years to improve myself as both a goalkeeper and person. I’ll continue to try my best to get to where I want to be.
“If you don’t try your hardest every day, then you don’t really like what you do. Every day you come in, you have to do the most you can with your day.
“If you put that extra 10% in, you’ll have a much bigger chance of getting to where you want to be than somebody that doesn’t do it.
“I know the club trusts me and I just need to keep doing the things that I’ve been doing over the past three years.”
The Spaniard, who has made 17 appearances in all competitions for the Seagulls this season, keeping seven clean sheets, praised the togetherness of the goalkeepers at the club, as well as the coaching staff.
“We’re like a family - myself, Bailey [Vose] and Billy [Collings]. We train every day and compete between each other.
“We’re competing for the same place, but for all the goalkeepers at this club, we’re friends. There are no fights, things are always good between us. It really is like a family.
“Obviously when we go up to first-team goalkeepers, they’ve got experience and you just have to look at what they do and try to learn something from them.
“The same with the coaches - Shannon [Ruth] and Ben [Roberts] are both brilliant coaches. I listen to what they say and try to learn as much as I can."
Albion’s under-23s have secured a play-off spot in the Premier League 2 Division 2, and Sanchez believes it would be something special if the Seagulls were able to seal promotion to the top flight.
“It would be one of the best achievements that the under-23s have had. It would be a great thing for the team to compete against better sides next season.
“The team has become like a family - we all work for each other on and off the pitch. You can see that in games, we create more chances and are now playing much better.”