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Walker Wants Derby Success

Posted on: Fri 20 Feb 2009

The U's face Southend United this weekend and keeper Jimmy Walker is looking forward to his latest derby.

Beginning his professional career at Walsall, the thirty-five year old had his pick of derbies in the West Midlands.

He explained to CU-FC.com earlier this week that there was one that he saw as the biggest.

"We had a few local derbies, with Wolves, West Brom, Birmingham and Villa all being very close but the biggest one for Walsall was probably Wolves.

"I remember our first year in the Championship when we beat them both home and away - it was fantastic to see what it meant to all the supporters, players and staff."

Not long after his move to West Ham, Jimmy faced Chelsea in his first London derby and unsurprisingly recalls a single incident rather than the game itself.

"It was only my second ever game for the Hammers and we were away at Stamford Bridge. The referee gave them a dubious penalty and it seemed an age before it could be taken due to the nature of the decision," he added.

"Once the dust had settled, Frank Lampard stepped up to take it but I managed to save it.

"We have had promotions and play-off games since then but still West Ham fans come up to me and talk more about that penalty save than any other game."

Chelsea aren't West Ham's closest rivals though, as Jimmy explained: "Millwall are seen as the main rivals and there is certainly no love lost between the two sets of supporters, with them giving me loads of abuse from behind the goal.

"I managed to keep a clean sheet though so had the last laugh."

Saturday sees the U's take on Southend and Jimmy said how he would be doing all he can to give the U's fans the chance to gloat.

He stressed: "While there are no more points at stake, there is always an added edge to the local games. And we'll be trying our best to give the U's supporters bragging rights with any Southend fans they know."

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