Pandur willing to play the waiting game at the Tigers
IVOR Pandur says patience is the name of the game as he awaits his chance to make his Championship bow for Hull City in the remaining weeks of the season.
The 23-year-old keeper was a January arrival from Fortuna Sittard and initially had to be patient for his chance with Matt Ingram the backup stopper to number one Ryan Allsop, but in recent weeks, the former Croatian Under-21 international has been on the bench.
In fact, Pandur has been the reserve goalkeeper in each of the last eight Championship games and is expected to be there once again today when City return to action against Stoke at the MKM Stadium as the play-off run-in kicks off following the international break.
It was during the international break that Pandur got his first taste of public action in a City shirt, playing 90 minutes in the friendly defeat to Curacao at the Corendon Airlines Park Stadium in Antalya, but he must wait for his Championship bow, something he was clear about after meeting Liam Rosenior.
“We had a meeting when I came into the club and he just explained to me how things stand. It’s just waiting for my opportunity,” the Croatian told the Mail. “At the moment, Ryan is doing really well, which is good for the team. The team is the most important thing. It’s not the moment to be selfish because it’s much bigger than that. If the team is doing well and there’s not so much need for changes, everybody understands 100 per cent. We are all here and we all want to play. If it makes the team better, that’s the thing.”
City are blessed with two outstanding Championship keepers in Allsop and Ingram, while youngster David Robson is part of the goalkeeping group coached by Barry Richardson, and Pandur says spirit amongst the group is high.
“It is the hardest thing about being a goalkeeper because if you are playing, you are playing – you stay there,” he continued. “It’s not like with outfield players, you can’t get 10 or 15 minutes to show yourself or you’re on the bench. But in training you can show yourself, keep improving and wait for your chance. For me, it’s waiting for that opportunity and being ready for it.
“It’s the best thing about this club (the spirit between the players). We enjoy training so much with each other and working with Baz (Richardson) is so enjoyable. We work on detailed situations that I haven’t had a chance to work on in this way before. Every day I go into training really happy, excited and ready to improve. That’s because of the goalkeeper’s union. They’re all quite relaxed and good with each other. There’s no jealousy, we just keep pushing each other.”