FOXBOROUGH, Mass. –
Bobby Shuttleworth
knows the routine.
When starting goalkeeper
Matt Reis
is sidelined – just as he will be for Saturday night’s meeting with the San Jose Earthquakes while nursing a sore right hamstring – the patient Shuttleworth inevitably finds himself fielding interview requests from local media anxious to hear the 24-year-old’s thoughts on his rare chance to step between the pipes in a regular-season match.
But beyond a few minutes in front of the camera or speaking into a recorder, Shuttleworth’s week proceeds as usual.
“I’m trying to train in order to play in every game, so it’s nothing different for me,” Shuttleworth said after a midweek training session at Gillette Stadium. “I’m not preparing any different than I would for every other week, for every other game.”
Saturday night will be different for Shuttleworth, however, as the third-year goalkeeper will make just his fifth start of the season and his first since Aug. 20 against the New York Red Bulls. Although the Revs have been eliminated from postseason contention, Shuttleworth will be aiming for his first win of the campaign after going 0-2-2 with a 2.00 goals against average in his four previous starts.
Despite his relative inexperience, it won’t be an entirely unfamiliar situation for Shuttleworth, who went 2-1-0 in the final three games of 2010 after Reis underwent season-ending ankle surgery.
“That was a good experience for me to get that run of three games in a row to know what that’s like,” Shuttleworth said. “I’m taking it one game at a time and trying to get a result on Saturday against San Jose, but every game for me is another game of experience and I’m trying to put my best foot forward.”
Putting the best foot forward is something Shuttleworth believes the entire club will be doing in the final three games of the season, regardless of the Revolution’s tenuous position in the standings.
“We’re professional soccer players,” he said. “We’re paid to come out here, play every day, work our tails off and try to get a result.
“At the end of the day, we’re playing for this club and we have to represent the club in the best way,” Shuttleworth continued. “Coming out here and just walking around, going through the paces and taking another loss – especially at home when these fans come out and cheer for us – is not something that we want to do and I don’t think that’s acceptable at all.”