Kofi Balmer knows he must be ready to grasp his chance at Bristol Rovers when it comes ahead of the Gas' trip to Salford City in Sky Bet League Two.
The Pirates will come up against a confident Ammies outfit, with Karl Robinson's men winning six of their previous eight outings in the fourth tier, pushing them up to fourth in the table, level on points with the two teams directly above them.
The January transfer window is well underway, and the Gas have confirmed five new additions to Steve Evans’ squad, with Balmer coming in alongside Ryan de Havilland, Kane Thompson-Sommers, Riley Harbottle and Yusuf Akhamrich.
Kofi has been with Rovers for a couple of weeks now and expressed how he was settling in at North Bristol.
“I'm settling in well," he said. "The lads have been great with me, the manager and the rest of the staff have been welcoming to me and helped me along the path. "So, hopefully now it’s just getting my head down and working hard and hopefully getting results in the near future.
“Up in Scotland, I wasn’t really getting the game time that I was looking for, and at the same time, I couldn’t really complain because the team were doing well up there. I was looking for options, and then Bristol Rovers came looking, and I’ve played against them and been involved in the league and know they’re a big club, and it was an opportunity that I couldn’t really say no to. So, I wanted to get myself in the door in a club like this and see how it goes.
“I’m hoping to get as much game time as possible and develop myself as a person and as a player because when you’re on loan here, you’re not only coming in to just play football, you’re coming in to learn from everyone else because everyone has had different experiences. If things go well and the option is there, it would definitely be a thinking process for me to stick around because I’m enjoying it so far.”
Balmer is a versatile defender. Comfortable as a centre-back and a right-back, he has appeared off the bench against Plymouth Argyle in the Vertu Trophy and Colchester United in Sky Bet League Two.
The 25-year-old is waiting for his first start, but will have to work hard to find his way into the team. Alfie Kilgour and Harbottle have played together before at Mansfield Town and started together in the fourth tier, with Joel Senior currently preferred on the right.
Balmer knows the quality in the squad in his position, but is ready to make an impact when required.
“You always want to start a game, but if you’re not starting, you always have to be ready," he said. "I know there are plenty of good quality, experienced players in there, obviously, in my position as well. If they start brilliantly, good for them, but at the same time, I’m ready to come off the bench, but I’m hoping to get a start in the future as well.”
Balmer has been known throughout his career for having a long throw that his managers have liked to use as a weapon going forward. The defender explained when he first discovered his ability to throw the ball the way he can, and the qualities he can bring to Steve Evans’ side.
“I’ve really had it since I was a kid, to be honest, probably around maybe 12 years old," said Balmer. "The best way I can describe it was my brother and me just out the front throwing the ball at each other, and as much as I hate admitting it, he can throw further than I. It’s just something I’ve always had; I think maybe when I was younger as well, I played a bit of rugby, so that possibly could have helped, but I’ve never really practised it or thought about it. It's just natural for me.
"With me, I’ve got broad shoulders, so I’ve got big levers to throw the ball as far as I can. I’ve always had it, so I just use it to hopefully score some goals and obviously get us out of problems defensively as well.
“The age I’m at, I’ve played a good few games, so although I’m not as experienced as some of the boys in the changing room, I’ll hope to bring a bit of experience, and for me it’s just working hard, aggressiveness and the willingness and the want to win. I think that’s probably the main thing that I’ll want to bring to the team, and at the end of the day, I’m here to win, not to lose, so we need to get going quickly.”
Rovers are hoping to make their way up the Sky Bet League Two table in the next few weeks, and Balmer believes that the squad is good enough to string positive results together.
“There’s definitely the quality there, I think that my first game against Plymouth, we showed that," he said. "Obviously, the result didn’t go our way, and then the next game against Colchester, we didn’t really show the quality, but it’s definitely there, and we’re training every day and training hard, so we know it’s there. We’re just trying to get everything to click at the same time, and that will come, hopefully, at the weekend."
