2011/12 Player Review: Reice Charles-Cook

Wojciech Szczesny is a tough act to follow - but Reice Charles-Cook is determined to emulate his Polish team-mate one day.

The confident 18-year-old shares many of the characteristics of Arsenal's No 1 and built on his handful of appearances for the Under-18s in the 2010/11 campaign with a full season in the youth team last season.

Reice has progressed through the ranks from the Hale End Academy, his shot-stopping and excellent reflexes catching the eye. He did enough to make the reserves squad on several occasions during 2011/12 and has since signed professional terms with the Club.

With Damian Martinez also impressing for the second string, Szczesny has his work cut out to remain first choice if Charles-Cook and the Argentine can fulfill their early potential.

SOUNDBITE
“Wojciech Szczesny has come through the academy and other teams’ managers are now calling him world class, and he is. I want to follow in his footsteps and play for the Arsenal first team one day. We have a lot of top goalkeepers here and the way it is in football is that there is only one position we can play in and so players move on, but if I look around the leagues, including the Premier League and Scottish Leagues, former Arsenal academy players are making good careers up and down the country."

FINEST MOMENT
Reice has a reputation for reflex saves - and the one to deny Coventry's Jonson Clarke-Harris ranks highly. The visiting striker's header looked destined for the net until the the young goalkeeper's flying save diverted it onto the post.