AFC Wimbledon goalkeeper Owen Goodman says his form on the pitch is down to what he is doing off it.
Goodman, 20, joined on loan from Crystal Palace in the summer and has kept three clean sheets in five League One games.
Goodman conceded four in his first two league games but none in his last three.
Only two teams in League Two, Gillingham and Barrow, who are second and third, have conceded fewer goals than the Dons this season.
Goodman’s latest shutout was in the 3-0 win against Milton Keynes last weekend.
Goodman has been working closely with Ashely Bayes, Wimbledon’s long-serving goalkeeping coach.
“With my personal form, I just feel like I’m doing everything right off the pitch,” Goodman said in an interview on the Dons’ website. “I’m in a good place, mentally and physically. I feel really good about myself. As a team, I think we’ve come together. We’re working really hard every day on and off the pitch.
“I’ve learned loads. Bayzo says that every day I’m getting better. It’s only the start though as we’re still in September. We’ve got so many games to go and we’ve just got to keep looking towards the next one. I’m excited about it.”
Goodman also has plenty of Eagles voices to offer him feedback and advice.
Goodman said: “I stay in touch with someone at Crystal Palace every week. I might speak to Mark Bright every few games, I might get a message or a call from Dean Kiely or Julian Speroni. They see the games, watch the highlights and they’ll send me a message, so it’s nice to know that people are watching me still.”
It’s a competitive environment in the goalkeeping department, after boss Johnnie Jackson also recruited Lewis Ward in the summer.
“That’s football. It’s about the bigger picture of the whole squad,” Goodman said. “I’ve had to do what Wardy has done before for the last five games of last season. It’s not the position you want to be in, but you’ve got to support the team and be a good guy in the changing room. At the end of the day, it’s about the team and not about yourself.
“We’re a really good group. We get along really well. We speak about a lot of things. We’re in this together and Bayzo drives it.
“After Saturday’s win we got two days off, which was a nice little reward. We trained on Tuesday. We then have a recovery day and then on Thursday we’ll start to look towards Bradford. We’ll look at their threats, where they’re dangerous and where they’re vulnerable. Then we’ll get ready for Saturday.
“You’ve have to take it as each game at a time really. We want to win the league, and we want to do well this season. We’ve got to look at the league games and win those
“When Newcastle comes round [in the EFL Cup] then we’ll concentrate on that. We want to win that game. Who cares if they’re a Premier League team – we beat Ipswich, we can beat Newcastle – but we deal with that Bradford game first.”
