By Amanda Little

Last updated at 09:10, Friday, 17 October 2008

Spurs keeper Ben Alnwick reckons he will thrive under the pressure of Carlisle United’s crucial home clash with Peterborough.

Ben Alnwick

The 21-year-old will be handed his debut at Brunton Park and knows the spotlight will be on him when he replaces axed keeper Ben Williams, who has paid the price for a series of costly mistakes.

United have conceded 13 goals during a dismal run of six straight league and cup defeats – their worst losing sequence for five years.

But Alnwick, a former England under-21 international, believes the pressure he’ll face at Brunton Park tomorrow will be nothing compared to dealing with the demands of having a £900,000 price tag on him and moving to a big Premiership club as a youngster.

He said: “There’s going to be a lot of pressure on me but hopefully I can deal with it.

“Going to Tottenham as a young lad for quite a bit of money was quite a lot of pressure but it’s just one of those things. If you want to make it to the top that’s what you’ve got to be able to deal with.

“It’s always difficult when you’re losing but we’ve got to hope for a good win on Saturday, hopefully get the fans right behind us and kick on from there.

“Sometimes a new face can make a difference and I hope I can help.

“I’ve trained with the lads and they all seem really up for it. Training was brilliant and team spirit seems really high.

“There’s always pressure when you move to a new club and there’s always pressure on you to play well.

“As a keeper I know what it’s like for Ben. It’s one of those things – sometimes you get stuck in a rut. When you’re flying you really are flying but when you make a mistake everything seems to go against you.”

Alnwick made 22 appearances for Sunderland after coming to prominence during the Championship title-winning season of 2004-05 when he replaced the injured Thomas Myhre for their last three games.

The 6ft 2in keeper from Northumberland is yet to make a first-team appearance for Spurs and was last season loaned to Leicester and Luton to get first-team games under his belt.

Alnwick was on tour with Spurs reserves, playing friendlies against Middlesbrough and Celtic, when he heard of Carlisle’s interest on Thursday night.

He admits his future at Spurs is up in the air following the arrival of Juande Ramos after the sacking of the man who signed him Martin Jol, but he is not looking beyond his one-month stay at United.

Alnwick said: “I’ve come to Carlisle where I’ll hopefully get regular first-team football. It’s great experience for me. It’s all a learning curve as I am not the complete goalkeeper yet.

“I don’t know what’s happening with Spurs. It’s a breath of fresh air to come to a club like Carlisle. They have been really welcoming and it’s good to get out to another club on loan instead of training with the reserves where you’re no further forward.”

Strikers Danny Carlton and Gary Madine both handed Carlisle United boss John Ward a timely reminder with goals in last night’s 2-1 reserve win over Preston.

Ward also had the opportunity to watch keeper Chris Howarth in action, with Ben Williams under pressure to hang on to his first team place after a series of costly gaffes.

n Carlisle youth team have been handed a home tie against Mansfield in the Youth Alliance Cup second round. The Brunton babes defeated Wrexham 2-1 in Saturday’s first round with goals from Andrew Cook and Liam Davison. They now face Mansfield at Gillford Park on Saturday, November 22.

First published at 05:42, Friday, 17 October 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk