ALEX LYNCH is taking ‘nothing for granted’ despite establishing himself as Chester’s number one ahead of the new season.

The shot stopper joined the Blues last year from Bala Town, and initially had to play second fiddle to on-loan keeper Liam Roberts, before he suffered an untimely groin injury away at York City.

Roberts’ misfortune was Lynch’s gain, as the Holyhead-born gloveman was thrown into the first-team and quickly established himself as boss Jon McCarthy’s first choice keeper, going on to make 30 appearances in all competitions, while earning rave reviews for a string of spectacular saves and man-of-the-match performances.

The 22-year-old is set to begin the 2017/18 campaign as number one, but admits he’ll welcome any new competition for the gloves with McCarthy currently looking to sign a second goalkeeper to challenge Lynch further.

“You don’t take anything for granted as a goalkeeper,” he said.

“If someone comes in, it’s good competition, if someone doesn’t come in then I will keep myself motivated and keep myself fit as much as I can, doing the right things all the time. I’m sure it’ll be nice healthy competition when a goalkeeper does come in.

“I’m looking forward to getting going, playing games. It was difficult coming in part way through last season, even though it worked out well for me in the end.

“Hopefully with a full season I can get a load of games under my belt, have a good run and start to make a name for myself.”

Lynch penned a new one-year deal with Chester last month and revealed it was a relief to have his short-term future sorted so quickly after the end of last season.

It’s a far cry from 12 months ago when Lynch was released by Wycombe Wanderers and has previously admitted that he didn’t know where his career was heading before securing some first-team football at Bala.

“Going into the off-season knowing things were pretty much sorted, even though it wasn’t all signed at that point, that was nice knowing I was going back and I had a club,” he continued.

“I was able to concentrate on spending time with my family and friends over the summer and thinking about the new season.

“It’s definitely nice to know you have somewhere to go back and play football. It’s nice to be liked, be liked by the people around the club. It’s good to be wanted by the club and I am delighted to be back.

“I’ve had a good break, I started getting bored towards the end so I’m happy to be back and looking forward to meeting the new lads and getting going again.”

Lynch was noticeably impressed with the calibre of players Chester have been able to attract to the club in recent weeks, with the arrivals of Ross Hannah, Andy Halls, Paul Turnbull and Kingsley James showcasing how the Blues want to push on up the National League table.

“The new signings are a statement of intent from the club,” Lynch explained. “It shows where the club is going with some of the signings we’ve brought in and hopefully we can all gel together and have a good season.

“I like being back in football, but I’d be a liar if I said I like all running, that’s why I play in goal! But I’m happy to be back and getting to know the new lads and getting a bond with them.

“It’s always intense in pre-season, I’ve been around full-time football for five or six years now and it never gets any easier but it’s part of the game and you can’t complain.”