Matt aims to add gloss next season

ROCHDALE’S Matty Gillam is hoping the taste of first-team experience gained during his maiden season will stand him in good stead for the 2018-19 campaign.

The teenage forward, whose contract was due to expire this summer, has now penned a new two-year deal and says the past 12 months have been a big learning curve.

“The results, especially during the second half of the season, didn’t always reflect our performances,” he said.

“There were games where we should have been drawing or winning, but we’d end up dropping points because we weren’t seeing them out, but in the end, we managed to stay up.

“There was always a belief that we could avoid relegation – we never thought we were going down – and it showed on the final day as everything fell into place for us.

“When you play for a first team, every game is a must-win game, whereas when you’re playing as a youth team player, although you obviously want to win, nothing depends on it – but here, and in particular this season, everything depended on it because we wanted to stay in League One.

“Being involved in that has given me the chance to learn how to deal with and get an important understanding of those types of pressures, which can only stand me in good stead.

“I’ve got to remember everything I’ve learned and all the experiences I’ve had this year and take them into next season.”