Whitworth on League One loan, Kiely coaching and progressing

Club

15 Oct 2024

Joe Whitworth has taken to his first experience of regular Football League action like a duck to water, but hopes that his loan to Exeter City can be just the beginning in reaching his full potential.

The 20-year-old joined the Grecians over summer and has made himself indispensable between the sticks, earning the club’s Player of the Month award and impressing manager Gary Caldwell.

Having made his Crystal Palace debut in high-profile Premier League visits to Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal, it comes as the next stage of his journey.

“The conversations about a loan started last season, where I felt the next step was for me to go out on loan,” Whitworth told the News Shopper. “I needed some men's football and some games under my belt in the EFL.

“That happened at the start of last season, but we decided to stay with the first team and continue to train among the best players in the world.

“The club have been great for me. Obviously, making my debut and being a part of the first-team squad for the past two years, travelling with the squad, being on the bench a lot and training every day with the seniors, it’s been a massive experience for me. It’s helped me push on.

“At the start of this season, the aim was to get out on loan. I had a few conversations with the gaffer, Dean Kiely and Steve Parish as well. Everyone was in the same boat to get me out on loan, everyone was helping.

"I had quite a few conversations with Dean Kiely, who has been massive for me in my development - he has helped me a lot so far. The main thing at the start of this season was to get out on loan and hopefully play as many games as possible.

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Everyone was in the same boat to get me out on loan, everyone was helping.
—Joe Whitworth

“It has been great so far. We feel like we could have done a bit better in the games that we lost. Personally, I feel like I have performed pretty well. All I have thought about is hopefully continuing to be as consistent as possible every game and making an impact on the game.

“For me, I think this club is great, the manager has been amazing for me. I have settled in really well, the lads have been great, and my confidence has been building every game by playing well, and hopefully that can continue building throughout the season.”

Whitworth credits many coaches and teachers with his development, but working more recently with Crystal Palace first-team goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely has made a huge difference to his game.

“Obviously, with my height, there has come a time when people have asked questions about how I would deal with crosses,” Whitworth explained. “The main thing for me was to continue to improve that. I think I have massively improved.

“There's still lots of room to improve because I am still a young player. I need to make every single aspect of the game a strength of mine, but I have developed the commanding style of my game a lot.

“Dean and I worked really hard on the training pitch last season to help me find solutions to do different things. In the first couple of games here at Exeter, it has shown. I’ve dealt with that side of the game well so far, but I need to keep going.”

Whitworth has developed something of a reputation as a formidable opponent from the penalty spot, already recreating his heroics in the Palace Academy in an Exeter City shirt this season.

“I think a lot of goalkeepers are doing the same thing,” he says. “I sit down with all the goalies and the coach, and we will look at past penalties, people who we think will take them, and people who might not be on the pitch but could end up taking.

“We will watch their penalties and see where they have gone in recent times. In football now, any marginal gain is major. We watch the penalty takers and see what they do, whether they have any tells, any steps, any shuffles.

“But for me, I try to just make a decision when he’s about to take it and just commit to it. I have saved a few, and hopefully that continues.”

You can read the full interview with Whitworth HERE.

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