Gilbert keen to grab his chance

PETER GILBERT

Boundary Park Round up

PETER GILBERT, one of eight debutants for Athletic in their opening league match, is desperate to get his career back on track.

The left-back, who gave an impressive performance against Stockport County, has endured a summer of uncertainty after being released by Sheffield Wednesday.

And at the age of 26, Gilbert is mindful that he needs to make the right move as his career ought to be reaching its peak.

“It is an important time in my career. I have had a few offers but I had to make sure the decision I made was the right one,” explained Gilbert who is on a week-to-week contract at Boundary Park.

Gilbert is also hoping to gain from Joe Jacobson’s pain as he was brought in to take-over from Athletic’s injured defender.

“An opportunity has opened up for me due to Joe’s unfortunate injury and I jumped at the chance to play some games and give it my best shot,” he explained.

Gilbert admitted the past four months have been full of uncertainty as it has been the first time he has ever been out of work.

He said: “It has been a very difficult period, but hopefully I have now come through it and learned and it is time to move on.

“I have spoken to a lot more people this summer than I normally would have done and on that front it has been a big learning curve for me and I have enjoyed it.

“There have been times when it has been difficult when I have trained on my own, but I have tried to stay positive because the motivation at the end of the day is to win a contract.”

After leaving Wednesday by mutual consent he spent the latter part of the season training at Huddersfield and Doncaster Rovers.

And there has also been a nomadic existence pre-season as it has been a case of have boots will travel.

Few players can have had a more eventful time than Gilbert, who has spent time at Huddersfield, Leyton Orient, Southend and Coventry City.

He said: “I have enjoyed the variety pre-season has offered me and I have played some good games.

“I was in the Leyton Orient side which defeated Newcastle 6-1 and then played for Coventry against Everton.”

Gilbert is hoping this summer is only a temporary blip in an otherwise successful career.

He was a schoolboy at Newcastle United in his native city, but kicked it off with four years at Birmingham City where he says he learned a lot without ever making a first-team appearance.

He made the breakthrough at Plymouth Argyle, helping them win what was the equivalent of the League One title before playing for them in the Championship which he again described as a big learning curve.

Gilbert more recently played for Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday, where a cruciate knee ligament injury kept him out for almost nine months and interrupted his career.

He had earlier won eight caps for Wales at under-21 level, having also trained with the senior squad.

And winning a full cap is still an ambition.

He said: “The only way I can get back in is by playing regular football and hopefully I can start by doing that with Oldham.