REPLACEMENT goalkeeper Chris Astley aims to keep Mark Hervin out of the Chippenham side ahead of his debut in three weeks time.

Astley is due to play in goal for the home game against Hitchin Town on November 13 and the important away game against fellow title contenders Merthyr Tydfil on November 16.

Astley, 18, is covering for Hervin whilst the Chippenham number one is taking part in a coaching camp in India with Bristol Rovers. His last game will be against Kings Lynn this weekend.

Astley, who used to be the youth goalkeeper for Bristol Rovers, is keen to impress and is looking to keep his place when Hervin returns.

He said: "I am very excited about my debut. My aim is to make Chalkie's (Steve White) decision about who to keep in goal difficult. I want him to think about who to have in goal and not automatically put Hervin back in when he gets back.

"Every footballer wants to play every Saturday. I know that I signed as a backup goalkeeper and have been sitting patiently on the bench all season. I plan to show everyone what I am all about and keep my place."

The young shot stopper has not played a single minute for Chippenham since he joined the club in the summer. He said: "I am obviously frustrated about sitting on the bench every game but I accept it because I know that my chance will come sooner or later. Now it is coming I am getting very excited. I believe that if I play to the best of my ability I can make a big impact.

"Now my chance is here I have to prove myself to the fans."

Astley said that Hervin has helped him while at Chippenham but they are still in competition for one number one spot.

He said: "Mark and I are good friends and he has helped me a great deal while I have been here. I am still aiming to keep him out of the team."

This is not the first time that Astley would have played at this standard of football. He said: "I played for the England U18 school boy team when I was at Rovers. It is a similar standard to the Southern League and I did well."

Astley played three games for England; the first was against Ireland where they narrowly lost 1-0. He kept a clean sheet against Scotland where England came away with a 1-0 win. He came off injured in his last game for England against Northern Ireland. England were winning 2-1 when he was brought off.

Astley hopes that he will show some of the form that he produced in his favourite game for Bristol Rovers Youth.

He said: "My best game was in the FA Youth Cup second round against Bournemouth. They had beaten us the month before 3-0 and everyone expected us to get hammered. The scores were 0-0 after 90 minute only because I made a string of stops and saved an 89th minute penalty.

"Then I saved two more in the shoot out to put us through. Everything went my way that day and the manager Ray Graydon came up and shook my hand after the game to congratulate me."