Chapman excited about prospect of Iron debut

Goalkeeper Aaron Chapman spoke to Iron Player ahead of Saturday’s (3pm kick-off) clash against Dagenham & Redbridge.

The 32-year-old signed for United just under two weeks ago, becoming manager Jimmy Dean’s eighth signing of the new era.

Speaking on his time in North Lincolnshire so far, he started by saying: “It’s been really enjoyable, it’s nice to actually build up to a matchday and feel a part of the process.”

With the Iron out of action since Barnet on February 3rd, Chapman believes having the extra time off will have helped the team form stronger chemistry moving forward.

“Obviously I don’t know what it was like before, but from what I’ve seen you wouldn’t believe we are where we are," he said.

“The place is vibrant, bubbly, everyone’s having a laugh, and we just want to take that out onto the pitch and start enjoying ourselves on there.

“I think not having a game last weekend will have helped us so we could spend more time building on the little relationships that we need to take out onto the field.”

Expanding on relationships, namely with fellow goalkeeper Owen Foster, he began by saying: “He’s a really nice kid and a really good goalie, he’s got a very bright future.

“I was surprised because at 18-years-old you think if he’s going to be good enough, but if you are good enough you can play, and he has been playing.

“He’s done himself no wrong and hopefully I can pass on my experiences with the qualities he’s already got, and he can go on to have the future that he rightly deserves from what I’ve seen so far.”

Recent defensive arrival Ben Richards-Everton and Chapman played together at Accrington Stanley, where they won promotion to League One together in a successful 2017/18 campaign.

Speaking on his relationship with the incoming defender, he revealed: “When you have success with people, you still keep and have those bonds.

“I’ve kept contact with him over the years so it’s nice to see him on a daily basis now, and hopefully we can bring our experience into the squad with the rest of the experienced lads we’ve got here.

“Reagan (Ogle) was a good player then too [during his spell at Accrington], so it’s good to see some old faces.”

Speaking on the fans, who came out in their numbers for Jimmy Dean’s first game as manager of the Iron against Barnet, he said: “We’re going to need all the supporters, we need everyone.

“We want them to see we’re all pulling in the same direction, and we want the fans pulling in the same direction with us.

“It all goes on the performances, if they see we’re putting 100% into it, they’re going to flock in by the numbers and that’s all we want to do.

“We want to play a good brand of football that the gaffer’s putting in, and if we start playing to our potential, we’ll start flying up that league.”

Hear more from Aaron Chapman and manager Jimmy Dean ahead of Saturday’s game on Iron Player.