Josh Archer programme article
Posted : 8th July 2023
After spending last season on loan with Portadown where he won the Ports’ Young Player of the Year award, young Linfield midfielder Josh Archer believes he’s returning a better player and now he’s determined to challenge for a place in the Blues’ starting eleven after signing a new three-year contract last month.
“I had a great experience on loan at Portadown last season. I felt like I had to get out and play regular First Team football, and I really enjoyed it, playing every week in the Premiership. Niall Currie was brilliant with me and I learnt a lot from him. He put his arm around me, helped me through games and gave me wee pointers at areas where I could improve.
“I was over the moon to sign a new contract recently. I felt I had a good year at Portadown and now I am hungry to kick on. I don’t want to be a bit part player – I want to play games and I hope that my performances in pre-season will show that. I see pre-season as an opportunity for me to impress the manager. It was good to get a half under my belt in a training game against TNS at Midgley Park a few weeks ago, and then we had a one-week training camp in Marbella where we built up on our fitness. Every single day is an opportunity for me, whether it be in training or in a match. The Full-Time training model we have in place helps a lot as you’re getting more touches of the ball every day, and it helps you tactically, as well as technically.
“My mindset now is to impress in pre-season, get as fit as possible and show the manager what I have learnt in my season away on loan. The main objective is obviously to play matches for Linfield.”
As Josh alluded to, the Blues spent a week in a warm-weather training camp in Marbella, Spain at the end of June and he believes it’s something which will have great benefits for the squad both on and off the pitch.
“There’s a good feeling around the squad at the moment. The new signings are settling in well and I think the training camp in Spain was a great thing in terms of bonding, as we were together for a full week. We really want to start the season strong and, although it probably goes without saying, being a huge Club like Linfield, we will desperate to win the title back this year.”
Of course, friendlies like this afternoon’s against Kilmarnock are all about improving match fitness ahead of European fixtures and 19-year-old Academy graduate Archer believes the Blues should be positive going into Thursday’s UEFA Conference League First Round first leg tie against Albanian side KF Vllaznia at Windsor Park.
“I had a taste of European football last year when I came on away to Bodo/Glimt in Norway. It was obviously a tough night in terms of the result, but it was a good experience in terms of playing against a team of their calibre. Respectfully, in Europe you can come up against stronger opposition than what you face locally and that’s a real learning curve. When we take on the Albanians we will need to make home advantage count in the first leg and, although there’s been a few changes to the squad, I feel like last year’s European run should give us some belief going into the tie. It’ll be a good test for us to see where we’re at as a group.”
Welcome back to Josh who everyone associated with the Club will be delighted to see extend his contract at Windsor for a further three years. Hopefully, he can continue to develop and become a successful Linfield player in years to come.