MAGPIES’ goalkeeper Shane Murphy insists it is “special” for him to pull on the Magpies’ number one shirt on a regular basis.

The county town keeper, who battled with Alan Walker-Harris for a starting spot as well as having a spell at Wimborne Town last term, also insists he is more confident than he was in the previous campaign.

A mistake against Kettering on the opening day of the season where his clearance was charged down meant Murphy got off to a rocky start in his side’s Avenue league opener, but that comes with the territory of being a goalkeeper, and the former AFC Bournemouth youngster is keen to focus on the positives.

He told Echosport: “I was obviously disappointed in the Kettering game to make the mistake but, apart from that, I felt like I had a good game.

“Obviously if I make a mistake it gets highlighted, if someone else does they can get away with it.

“I am looking to put that behind me and take the positives from the games, relax and go again."

He added: “It’s nice to have the shirt on and it means something.

“It’s special to put the shirt on every week and know that I have to put in a performance for my teammates and myself.

“I feel it has given me a lot of confidence. Already from last year I feel more confident in myself and Jordan (Mullis) is putting pressure on me as well, which is what I want.”

Assessing the club’s hopes for the campaign, Murphy, who is set to be part of the squad that visits Chesham United this afternoon (3pm) added: “I don’t think we have actually set a target but definitely a top-half finish would be what I’d like us to do

“It’s been a tough start. We have had two games now and it’s not been the start that we wanted but there are plenty of positives to take.

“We played good football in the first game and, even in the second game, we tried to play the right way. We can’t dwell on the bad things, we need to concentrate on the things we did well and that is what we are going to try and put into place on Saturday.”