Amos Stakes His Claim

Ben Amos was delighted to play in the Barclays Premier League for the first time on Tuesday night – more than three years after making his Manchester United debut.

The Macclesfield-born goalkeeper had previously only played five times in the Carling Cup and once in the UEFA Champions League, so the chance to play in England's top flight – in the absence of both David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard - was a big one for Ben.

“It feels really good. I’ve obviously been waiting a long time for an opportunity this season and thankfully it’s come and I’d like to think I’ve made the most of it,” Amos told MUTV after United's 2-0 win over Stoke.

“Obviously there were a few nerves but that’s healthy, to have a few nerves before you come out. I just played my own game really and it was a good result tonight.”

Amos now hopes he has a considerably shorter wait for his second league appearance. But he acknowledges his fate, to a large extent, is in the hands of others.

“I feel I’ve been ready to play at this level all season. It can be frustrating when the chances don’t come around but you’ve got to be ready when something like that [injuries to De Gea and Lindegaard] happens. When it does happen, you’re thrown straight in as I was tonight.

“All I can do is go out and do the best I can, and put pressure on the other goalkeepers in training and try and get a chance in the games. But it’s the manager’s decision.”

While he was happy to keep a clean sheet on his league bow, Amos was asked if he wanted more to do.

“In a sense I did, but I also didn’t want to go and chase things to try and make an impact. I just wanted to be positive about any decisions I had to make.”

Amos praised his team-mates at the other end of the park for being just that – positive when it counted, from the penalty spot.

“They were obviously really cool under pressure and kept their heads,” said Amos, on Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov’s match-winning penalties.

“I was happy to see them both go in, and we could have had another penalty later on.

“I thought we controlled the game really quite well throughout. We deserved to win tonight.”