FOSTERED BACK

Last updated : 20 March 2007 By Editor

"Schmeichel had a massive impact on me as a goalkeeper, everything about him.

"He was very big and commanding, everyone respected him massively and when he made a mistake he'd blame someone else. I should have blamed Danny Shittu, really, but it was massively my fault.

"A lot of people were looking at the Spurs game as me versus Robbo, but that's not the way I looked at it. There were chants of 'England's No 1' and 'England's No 2', and after the goal went in there were a few shouts of 'England's No 4'! But I didn't look at it like that and just try to do as well as I can in every game I play. I would like to think that one person's finishing skills isn't going to decide who is the England No 1."

The Times:

Foster's admission also contrasts with the way Robinson handled his own mistake in Croatia last October, with the Tottenham goalkeeper seemingly blaming everyone but himself in the aftermath of England's 2-0 defeat. The 23-year-old's honesty reflects well on an individual who grew up outside the bubble of Premiership academies, as well as the skills of Kate Smith, his girlfriend, who is a qualified psychologist.

"It's good to have people like Kate around to talk to," Foster said. "Some footballers treat incidents a bit big-headedly and say that things don't bother them, but sometimes you need to talk about it and get your feelings out and I find it really helps to talk about it. When it's all going well it's fine, but when something bad happens she's a great person to have around.

"I'm definitely relieved it happened in a club game. Part of coming out on loan to Watford was to get experience and you know you're going to make mistakes along the way.

"If it had been for England or Manchester United at this point of the season, when every point is critical, I'd have got a lot more publicity. Robinson's mistake was for England in a qualifier and the next day he was on the front pages. That's a goalkeeper's life, I suppose, but the mark of a great goalkeeper is how you deal with it."

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"I think Edwin has been awesome this season; to be honest he's my No 1 goalkeeper at the moment in the world.

"He's a really nice guy and a good person to learn from. It's going to be a difficult time next season getting him out of the way. Getting into the United team and getting past Van der Sar would be a massive achievement. Being Manchester United's No 1, everyone would expect you to be England's first choice as well."