Remi Matthews hasn’t given up on his English Premier League dream, after tasting big-time action for Crystal Palace in a pre-season friendly against Manchester United.
But he’s happily put those ambitions to the back of his mind to concentrate on being a top flight success in Scotland with St Johnstone.
The 28-year-old is a number one again, having swapped Selhurst Park for McDiarmid Park.
And playing in front of a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground a few weeks ago has whetted his appetite for stepping out of the goalkeeping shadows.
“We played Man United in Australia in front of 80,000 fans,” said Matthews.
“Jack (Butland) broke three fingers after 10 minutes.
“I’m sitting there thinking: ‘I really want to go on here, but I don’t know if I can run out in front of 80,000!’
“Although we lost 3-1, the experience was great.
“You can never take that away now. To play Man United in front of 80,000 people was a massive achievement for me.”
Third year out of first team would be one too many
Matthews was a back-up for two seasons in a row in London and he knew that had to change this summer.
“I haven’t thought about the long term but I didn’t want to go a third year without playing,” he said.
“I want to be known as someone who has played a lot of games.
“I enjoyed last season and found myself on the bench against Man City and Spurs.
“That was an unreal experience and I was playing with some of the world’s best players.
“Maybe I will go back and do that again next season. Palace will advise me.
“But my aim is to play games and do as well as I can for St Johnstone. I’ll miss Palace but I’m planning to enjoy this season here.”
Fir Park bounce-back
Starting Perth life with a last minute defeat on the back of a controversial sending off couldn’t be filed under ‘enjoyment’.
That bit will hopefully begin at Fir Park in game number two.
“I’ve settled in well and been really impressed,” said Matthews. “I’ve been leggy from the training sessions as they are so intense but that is what I need.
“We will have ups and downs as a team but we need to get together now.
“We could have done better against Hibs but when you then concede from a set-piece after 90 minutes it’s a kick in the teeth.
“Hopefully we learn from that and we are a little bit stronger in the latter stages.
“After the game I had something to say to the ref about the red card.
“He made the decision to send Murray (Davidson) off but the tackle from Hibs player was possibly worse.
“It’s done now, though.”
This is the Englishman’s second spell north of the border, having impressed on loan with Hamilton Accies a few seasons ago.
“I was at Norwich for 14 years – 10 to 24 – and the loans I had were massive,” he said.
“I was then at Bolton and played in the Championship before we went into administration.
🚫🤚🏻 How good was this man yesterday!?
👉🏻 @Remi_matthews.#BWFC 🐘🏰 pic.twitter.com/K3Al3rNP1q
— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) September 22, 2019
“I had to move on to Sunderland and it didn’t go well as I wanted there.
“That was a new experience for me but then I fell on my feet and went to Palace.
“People don’t realise how competitive it is in Scotland and what the standard is like.
“Down in England, the natural thing to say is: ‘Oh, Scottish football’.
“But they have never played here, watched a game or been involved.
“That is one reason why I came back.
“I could have gone to League One or Two in England, but I chose here.”
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