WHEN Jonathan North's mobile rang a couple of weeks ago, he didn't except it to be Watford's Goalkeeper Coach Alec Chamberlain.

He said: "Obviously I was delighted to hear what he had to say!"

Following the departure of stopper Stuart Searle from Watford, 18-year-old North was handed his first professional contract.

"I was over the moon" said the young 'keeper.

"It was completely out of the blue and I was on my way to looking for other clubs for pre-season, so to come back here was a massive relief and I was delighted to get the phone call.

"That was a few weeks ago now and it's all going well in training so far."

The Welsh youth international revealed that this year's pre-season campaign could be his most important ever as he looks to make an impact under the new management team.

"Pre-season gives me the chance to get my head down, and do a bit with Monty [Strength and Conditioning Coach Mathew Monte-Colombo] in the gym.

"It's important that I work hard, I'll be nice and sharp so I can involved again.

North:"I was delighted to receive the call from Alec"

"It's a great opportunity for me to get working really hard and improve my fitness.

"I'm aiming to train hard everyday, I'll try to get as many pre-season games under my belt as I can and then see how things go for the season."

With a goalkeeping team of England under 21 international Scott Loach and the experience of Richard Lee, headed up by former Golden Boy Chamberlain, North feels he couldn't be in a better environment than the one at Watford.

"Without a shadow of a doubt we have an amazing goalkeeping set up at Watford, with Alec and Richard you've got the experience of Premiership football.

"And in Loachy we have the England U21 experience" said the stopper.

North in Academy action last term

"It was great for Scott to go away with England this summer and I can only learn more from watching him in training.

"Rich has been at the club for years, he's a great professional, so I can learn from all of them.

"It's brilliant and I've got some great examples ahead of me to learn from.

"I can't wait to get started now."

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