Brad Young was pleased to return to the Bristol Rovers team and is ready to battle for his place in goal after starting in the Pirates' 1-0 loss to Salford City on Saturday.
The 23-year-old, who signed for the Gas in the summer after departing Leicester City, came in for his first Sky Bet League Two appearance since November when Rovers lost 3-1 to Accrington Stanley.
Despite conceding after eight minutes when Ryan Graydon showed a clinical edge from inside the box, the shot-stopper made sharp stops either side of half-time, denying Graydon a second from close range before pushing Kallum Cesay's attempt around the post.
Speaking to the media after the contest, Young reflected on his return to the team and when he found out he would be starting.
“It was nice to be back on the pitch," he said. "I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the results. I want to win football games; I don’t enjoy losing matches, but it was nice to be back on the pitch again.
“As we got to the ground today, the gaffer did the team in the changing room. So, there have been conversations, obviously, where my place is. Keep getting down, graft away and hopefully get a chance.”
He later added, “It’s hard, obviously, as a goalkeeper to lose a game, but yeah, I’m quite pleased. Obviously, the thing with the goalkeeper is when they’ve not been playing for so long, you’re a bit rusty coming in. Luckily, in training, we’ve been doing 11v11 work, so you sort of get that rust off, but I’m relatively happy. I'm just disappointed with the result.”
Young has played seven times across all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign, keeping clean sheets in the Vertu Trophy against Cheltenham Town and Plymouth Argyle. He has had to wait for his chance in goal, with Northern Ireland international Luke Southwood playing 22 times in the fourth tier and is now looking to cement his place in the side.
"I come back every single day and control the controllables," said the goalkeeper. "I’ve obviously done that and got a shot. I’ll continue how I’ve been doing. Head down and graft away. Obviously, I don’t pick the team, but I’ll control the controllables as they say.”
Rovers are back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Milton Keynes Dons, who are third in Sky Bet League Two after an emphatic 5-1 win over Shrewsbury Town. Young knows it will be a tough test but believes the team will look to put things right.
“They don’t come much harder than that," said Young. "Look, we can’t do anything about it. We’ve got to recover now, look and review this game, put things right, and we'll go again on Tuesday. Luckily, it’s a quick turnaround, so we can go again and get a positive result from this quest.”
