Liverpool keeper Fulton has shown talent to reach very top

I was delighted for him to experience his first win since arriving from Liverpool on loan against Bristol Rovers. It was just a shame he had his first clean sheet taken away from him with that late goal. That is something he would have been disappointed about but, what from I’ve seen of him, I’m sure it won’t be long before that arrives. Fulton definitely has a lot of the attributes of a natural goalkeeper. He’s made saves which sometimes go more unnoticed than others. Ryan hasn’t had what I would call a bad game since arriving, so he could count himself unfortunate not to have had more success. He’s had to deal with the indignity of having a keeper score against him at Morecambe. That came in the 92nd minute after he had just made a very good save, despite not being involved for a long period. Then, unfortunately, all people want to talk about is the keeper scoring and not the save he made a couple of seconds beforehand. If that had not gone in everyone would have been talking about Ryan earning us the three points. It was similar with the penalty save against Oxford. He makes a fine stop but we still ended up losing the game. I think it’s a difficult job being a Pompey keeper this season. With the way the team has been playing in large parts, there are long periods of inactivity. That takes high levels of concentration to be ready for when you are called upon. In my view, that’s harder than when you are busy all of the time. That’s a hard side to the keeping game a lot of people probably wouldn’t realise. There’s no disrespect to anyone who has gone before him, but Ryan has come in and looked confident and tidy. Don’t forget young Alex Bass, either, who also looks like he will have a very bright future. Bassy has been in and around the first team for the majority of the season now. He is definitely a capable young keeper and has impressed a lot of people with his attitude and ability. I think, this time next year, Bassy can definitely be a big part of things here. For any keeper, that first clean sheet is a big milestone. That will come for Ryan and hopefully that will come this Saturday at Yeovil. That’s a game we can go into with confidence after last weekend, and we are all hoping that can be a pivotal moment in the season.