Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Christian Walton is relishing life out on loan with Sky Bet League One leaders Wigan Athletic after he helped them to another victory on Saturday against Gillingham.
The Albion stopper kept his tenth clean sheet in 13 league matches in a 2-0 win at the weekend as Paul Cook’s men kept a four point lead at the top of the division, and the Seagulls loanee was full of praise for both his teammates.
He said’ “It’s been great, I’ve come into a really good side who have had a good season.
“I couldn’t have really asked for much more to be honest, the dressing room is good and upbeat as you would expect given our run and now we know we just have to keep going.
“The clean sheet record is obviously nice for me personally and it’s down to the players in front of me on the pitch.”
Walton played 40 matches across the EFL for both Luton Town and Southend United respectively last season, and discussed what it was like to be challenging for promotion at both clubs.
“I’ve been in winning dressing rooms before – like at Luton Town last season as well, they were competing at the top end of the table for a lot of the campaign so I’ve been fortunate in that respect.
“When you’re in a winning environment it’s very much one game at a time and you don’t want to look too far ahead or take anything for granted.
“As a goalkeeper sometimes it’s nice – in the game versus West Ham in the FA Cup the boys were terrific and in all honesty I didn’t have too much to do in the afternoon itself.
“Promotion is obviously the ultimate aim for everyone here, the squad is more than good enough to achieve that.
“We just have to take it one week at a time and stay focused, hopefully I can continue to play a big part in that and be successful come May.”
The Latics’ victory over David Moyes’s men has secured a home tie with Manchester City in the last 16 of the Emirates FA Cup.
The fixture with Pep Guardiola’s men is a repeat of the 2013 FA Cup final – where Walton’s loan side produced one of the greatest upsets in cup final history with a 1-0 win.
“We’ve been rewarded with a great cup tie in the next round – for obvious reasons it’s a fixture with a lot of history to it, especially in this particular competition and it’s a great chance to show everyone what we can do as a team because it’s live on television as well.
“We’ll be able to test ourselves against some of the best players in the world, and that’s great for both me and the team. We want to give a good performance and we’re flying at the moment.
“We’ve shown we can beat teams in the Premier League already with the victories over AFC Bournemouth and West Ham, so we’ll look to keep that going.”