The goalkeeper puts that down to the experience of playing with and against professionals, and in the way Academy prospects are treated by their senior teammates.
He explained: “They make you feel part of the group. There’s that support element there because we’re still young – I’m still 18 – but there’s that support element there and they make you feel part of the group. Gaz [Gary Phillips, Academy Goalkeeper Coach] told me yesterday: this game is going to be great, it’s going to be fantastic for me, because this is the level he wants me to be playing at… to get experience of it and to learn.
“I feel great. Obviously it’s a great experience for me to play against Premier League players, to play against league players, League One, League Two, because that [professional football] is the place I want to play… being able to play against these team is great and learning from the first-team players, Premier League players, is fantastic.
“We’re all learning, we’re all young. We want to get to the top, that’s what our goal is. We just want to learn… we make mistakes, it happens – we’re young and everyone makes mistakes. But it’s the learning element and experience we’re gaining from this.”
Finally, having competed in ‘keeper gloves in 35-degree heat, the young shot stopper gave an insight into elite-level football in such conditions.
Speaking with half a laugh, Goodman said: “I think going into the game it was: ‘Right, it’s going to be a long 90 minutes,’ but I think when we came out to warm-up it wasn’t too bad; it was that slight breeze and as the game went on it got a bit darker and got a bit colder. So it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
