KIE Plumley thanked Oxford United for sticking with him as he adjusted to the life of a footballer during the coronavirus pandemic.

The goalkeeper signed his first professional contract yesterday, agreeing an 18-month deal with the option of an extra year.

Plumley, 18, arrived at United from ninth-tier outfit Camberley Town a matter of weeks before the country was plunged into lockdown in March 2020, with football suspended until June.

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He said: “I’d just got used to the life of a professional footballer and the season shut down.

“I came back and all I could do was run – I was quite skinny and fragile and it didn’t help me at all.

“I found it so hard to get back into the swing of playing football every day, because I’d been out for so long.

“That came (back) throughout the season and I’m so grateful they didn’t just leave me, because I wasn’t up to standard.

“Now I feel like I’ve come in, proved myself and I’m ready for the next challenge.”

After getting up to speed, the teenager became United’s Under 21 goalkeeper and was loaned to Pitching In Southern League Premier South side Weston Super Mare earlier in the campaign.

Plumley played a handful of games for the seventh-tier club, but quickly found himself promoted to the U’s first-team bench when Stevens was diagnosed with glandular fever in late October.

His seven games as an unused substitute have included trips to Ipswich Town and Sunderland, which left the youngster pinching himself.

He said: “It was crazy to be honest, because I’ve come from Camberley Town, which isn’t the level of this.

“When I was on the bench at the Stadium of Light I was thinking ‘what am I doing here?’.

“Since I signed my first contract as a scholar I always knew that if I did the right things they’d give me a chance.

“I can’t thank the club any more, the opportunities that I’ve had are unreal.

“This season, the loan they got me was such a great level to go to at such a young age.”