Joe Mattock aims to make position his own in West Bromwich Albion's first team

Aug 17 2009 by Christopher Lepkowski, Birmingham Mail

JOE Mattock hopes to have done enough to retain his first-team spot after winning the battle for the left-back role on Saturday.

The recently-signed 19-year-old made his league debut for Albion after keeping his place following his appearance in the Carling Cup at Bury.

Marek Cech returned from international duty but had to make do with a place on the bench at Nottingham Forest.

Mattock hopes his performances in the opening two games will be enough to keep him in the side for tomorrow’s trip to Peterborough.

“The first week has been good,” he said. “The lads have been welcoming.

“I’m starting to settle in now and I’m hoping to stay in the team and hopefully we can move on to bigger and better things.

“It’s always good for the confidence to be picked over someone like Cech.

“He played last week, I played in the week and the gaffer picked me so I’m pretty pleased with myself. I hope to have done enough for the game on Tuesday.”