Gerken aims to be No.1 again

Dean Gerken signed a new two year contract with Bristol City yesterday and said that h will be trying his hardest to take the number one keeper slot at Ashton Gate away from David James.

Gerken lost his spot when James arrived in the summer of last year, since then he has only made one first team appearance in a Carling Cup game.

But Gerken is up for the fight now although he knows that he will have to be on form to dislodge an ex-England keeper.

Speaking to < a href=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/football>Bristol Evening Post Gerken said: 'This last few months is the first time in my career I've been a number two goalkeeper. It has been a learning curve and quite difficult in many ways.

"I still find it hard every Friday when the team is announced and I'm not in it. I still try my hardest in training, whether I'm trying to displace David James or any other goalkeeper. Psychologically, it can be difficult because you train as hard as you can all week and then you don't get the reward of playing on Saturday.

'It's slightly different for an outfield player because they always have a chance of coming on as a substitute whereas I pretty much know that I won't be playing unless there is a rare game where the goalkeeper has to come off.

'I still want to be Bristol City's number one goalkeeper and I won't stop trying until the day I leave the club. There is no point being at any club if you don't believe you are good enough to play or haven't got anything to offer the team.'

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