Modest Walton happy to play his part in Town triumph

Hatters keeper Christian Walton was delighted to play a vital part in Saturday's excellent 3-0 win over rivals Cambridge United.

The on-loan Brighton stopper made three excellent stops from close range, showing brilliant reactions to deny Luke Berry twice, the second from point blank range and then keep out Medy Elito’s effort too.

On the saves, a modest Walton said: “It was a good game for me the first half, that’s what I’m there for and kept us in it, but we knew it was going to be a difficult game.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The first took a bit of a deflection as he headed it, so I went one way and had to get back sharp to save it, but that was good, that’s what I work on in training and I’ve put it into practice.

“The second opened up for him quite nicely and he could have gone either way, but I’ve got a good hand to it and it’s good. I’ve made the saves and put us on the front foot for the second half.”

Walton has also been highly satisfied with the way he has bounced back from the error made against Newport County in being beaten direct from a corner, with back-to-back star man displays.

He continued: “That’s why I’m here, it’s a learning curve, as a keeper we’re going to make mistakes and it happened.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’m happy it happened against Newport and we still got the three points, so shows the team support and team spirit we’ve got here at the club.

“It’s nice to make some saves, I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully win as many games as possible up until Christmas and then evaluate our performances from there and go into the second half of the season and finish it off.”

Hatters boss Nathan Jones always knew Walton had performances like that in him, which was the main reason he was the manager’s number one target in the summer.

He said: “That’s what he’s been brought here for and we believe he’s a top keeper.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We’ve been very fortunate to have him, been very fortunate that they trust us to look after his development for a year and he’s responding fantastically well and that’s why he’s here.

“He was superb, but that’s why we wanted him and that’s why we allowed the likes of Elliot Justham to go, because Elliot was improving very, very quickly, he was a good keeper for us.

“But we were able to bring in something that we felt was going to be better and that’s what we did.”

The clean sheet was Town’s second of the season so far, having kept a shut out at Plymouth on the opening day as Walton said: “It’s massive, that’s my aim before the game, just keep the ball out of the net.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“That’s what I’m there for, keeping the ball out of the net and keeping clean sheets.

“That’s what we want as a back five to keep as many clean sheets as we can.

“If we’re doing that, then we leave the rest for the front four, front five to finish the games, like they did today, 3-0 and three points.

“I think we’ve put out a statement so far to other clubs and other fans and hopefully we can just go on doing that.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Meanwhile, on how his loan spell is going at Kenilworth Road so far, Walton added: “I’m absolutely loving it, it’s a great club, great team, great staff and I’m really enjoying my football at the minute.

“I’ve done what I can in the first few games, I just need to carry that on now for the rest of the season and hopefully it will be a good season for me and I go back to Brighton with those games under my belt and a bit more experience and see where it takes me.”

Related topics: