Midfielder Jaedon Faulkner spoke to Club media after the Anchors’ 6-1 victory over Seaton Carew on Tuesday.
Jaedon was a first-half sub, replacing Layton Watts in midfield just past the 20 minute mark, and speaking on playing 70 minutes with the first team, stated: “It’s always good to get a run out with the first team. Layton came off and it was a lot more minutes than I was expecting. It gave me a good chance to bond with them and get my fitness up more than planned.”
The 18-year-old found the target twice during the game, and spoke proudly on that: “It gives you confidence, just scoring in general is always the aim for an attacking player and scoring early settled me in quickly.”
Faulkner, the former U18 now on a first team contract, spent most of last season in the Northern League, helping West Auckland Town to promotion, and now he has his sights set on making his mark with Stockton: “The progression has been a big step forward. Growing through the youth teams and then with Guisborough and West Auckland last season has prepared me well for this level, and I’ve just got to keep going and using these games to get ready for the season.”
The primary midfielder spent time as a wing-back for a majority of the second-half, which he speaks on by stating: “I’ll always do whatever the manager wants from me. I played on the wing for West Auckland and moved to wing-back in the second half which is similar in the defensive duties required, and I felt I had to make that block [in the second-half] to make up for an earlier error, so I’m glad I was able to show that defensive effort of my game too.”
He closes by looking ahead to the final five pre-season games, and his personal goals for those games: “Fitness is a big priority, I want to play as much as I can this season. I want to prove myself to the staff and the players that I can do a job and play at this level.”
