BEN Garratt says Burton Albion’s squad know they have to keep sustaining their efforts into next season following the successful end to 2020/21.
After securing safety from relegation with three games to go in April, the Brewers are now on their pre-season break ahead of 2021/22.
Goalkeeper Garratt, reintroduced to the first-team following the arrival of manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and assistant Dino Maamria in January, kept 10 clean sheets in 21 games as the Brewers climbed up the table.
And that has contributed to a feel-good factor that Garratt is enjoying, especially among the “goalkeeper’s union” at the Pirelli Stadium.
“There’s a real feel-good factor around the place,” said Garratt, who recently signed a new two-year contract to stay at the Pirelli.
“We aren’t going to get carried away and it’ll take a lot of hard work to sustain it, but we’re confident.
“The goalkeepers are a close-knit group and we work hard together and push each other day-in, day-out.
“It can only be healthy to have that competition and the others feel the same.”
And Garratt is certainly enjoying life at the Pirelli Stadium, too.
The 27-year-old signed for Albion in 2019 after nine years and nearly 250 appearances for Crewe Alexandra just up the A50.
Since then, Garratt has turned out for the Brewers 33 times in total, 31 in the league, and says the ethos around and close-knit nature of the club has really contributed to how much he has enjoyed life in East Staffordshire.
“It’s a really close-knit, family-friendly club and group here,” said Garratt.
“The club from top to bottom, everyone knows everyone, there’s a lot of good people here and that helps, like last season when we went through tough times, it helped a lot.
“Everyone worked together to achieve that goal of staying up.
“I’ve just loved my time here so far for that reason. The staff and players have been brilliant.”