FEATURE: Arnold has to be 'thick-skinned' in the 'ruthless' world of goalkeeping

It was only his third league appearance for the club since signing from Shrewsbury last summer. The first - his debut at Port Vale - was curtailed by injury and his second ended in a 4-0 defeat.

So Saturday's 3-0 win represented a marked improvement and it was just what he, and his team, needed.

The two sides were in contrasting form ahead of kick-off but you would never have guessed that Town had lost five in six from their dominant, assured display at a wet and windy Blundell Park.

Callum Morton, adding another brace to his impressive goal tally, and Charlie Goode, who opened the scoring after just eight minutes, were the pick of the bunch, but it was also an important and significant afternoon for the man between the sticks.

For only the third time in their past 82 league matches, David Cornell did not start in goal for the Cobblers. Instead, Arnold got the nod in one of five changes from the previous Tuesday’s defeat at Cheltenham Town.

”It was a good day’s work in difficult conditions,” said Arnold. “Before the game we weren’t sure whether it would be on or not with the pitch inspection but in our minds we were always prepared for it being on.

“It’s nice to come away with the three points. The pitch was very heavy and even my legs struggled a bit! We had snow, sunshine, rain and wind before kick-off.

“It was all the seasons in about an hour but I thought we defended superbly and to a man we were class.

“The lads at the back will put their heads in front of a train! We all did our jobs and rightly so we got the three points and a clean sheet.”

Curle felt it was the ‘right time’ to change his goalkeeper for the trip to Grimsby as Cornell paid the price for his mistakes in the defeats to Walsall and Cheltenham.

For Arnold, that meant just a sixth start of the season in all competitions.

But whilst he was grateful for the opportunity on Saturday, he also enjoys being made to work hard for the number one position.

He added: “The competition is really healthy here and I’ve got to say I think Dai has been superb this season and most people would agree with that. He’s been up there with one of the players of the season so it’s difficult coming in because it’s big boots to fill.

“But it’s healthy to have that competition because I’m pushing him all the way to do well and he’s the same for me and we’ve seen this season how quickly it can change.

“If you look back at the Crawley game when we lost 4-0, I came into the team for that game but we were beaten 4-0 and I was straight back out of the team again.

“It’s ruthless as a goalkeeper. You’ve got to have thick skin to deal with it but I’ve got a very thick skin.

“It’s the nature of the game and it comes with age being a goalkeeper in terms of the abuse you get but it’s just one of those things.”

A clean sheet and a generally secure performance at Blundell Park should ensure Arnold keeps the gloves for this weekend’s visit of Mansfield Town, though he’s not taking anything for granted.

“A week’s a long time in football and you never know what can happen,” he said.

“You can’t afford to rest on your laurels. There’s a week of training to come and that could throw anything up.

“I think you need to start the week not expecting to play and then train as hard as you can and make sure you keep the shirt for the next game.”

Arnold also had praise for the way Curle has dealt with the situation between him and Cornell, and it’s certain the manager will have more tough decisions to make in these final 10 games of the season.

“I think you’ve got to be honest as a manager and you’ve got to keep the players vying for that shirt,” continued the 30-year-old.

“The way you do that is by honest and he has been with both of us this season.

“There are 10 games to go and it’ll be up for grabs every week. The person who has the shirt will do all he can to keep it and the other one on the bench will be battling.

“It’s ruthless but it’s also really good competition.”