"Bring it on, I can't wait" - Town defender Wilson says he's ready to take his chance

The 22-year-old centre-back was at Belper Town last season in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, two levels below the National League.

And he says he feels capable of making the step up.

"I said it to my mum and dad, this summer I was as ready as I was ever going to be," Wilson told the Courier.

"Sometimes I was 50-50 whether I could or I couldn't, but this summer just gone I was 100 per cent that I can go and sign professionally, and then that I want to push and play professionally, play games, work and work and get better.

"Make no bones about it, coming in here was tough, three weeks after pre-season had started, the running was tough, getting to know the lads, I had to do it quick,

"But as soon as I got here I felt really welcome and that I was part of the team before I became part of the team.

"So it was a lot more comfortable than I expected."

Wilson has previously had trials with Oldham Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday, and was on trial with Halifax during pre-season.

"Personally I always thought I would," he said when asked if he was confident he could secure a deal with The Shaymen.

"I've learned from previous trials that, if you don't think it's going to happen, it won't.

"I was full of confidence coming in but knew I had to be at the level, and then we played Sheffield United at St George's Park and just having half-an-hour out there helped me realise I could keep up to the standard, I can play the passes and the patterns they're after.

"After that I fully thought I could get a deal here."

Wilson admits the step-up from two divisions lower is "massive".

"The physical side is more because the game's a lot faster, but I feel like aerially and my other strengths, they still work," he said.

"It's just the tempo, the tempo and the quality of the players. We like possession here, we like the ball, the neatness, the tidiness, the standards that are expected are much higher than where I come from.

"That's not disrespect to Belper because we had a way of playing and for a long time it worked.

"But coming into here, you see the difference in the warm-up, everything's quicker and sharper, everything's louder. It's the little things that get players higher - the neatness, the tightness, what you're actually saying to people, your awareness, everything's a big jump."

Wilson hopes his pro deal with Town is just the start of a long career in full-time football.

"It was probably one of the best days of my life when I got told I was getting a contract here," he said.

"It's a change of lifestyle, I've been working for my dad on a building site, doing little jobs here and there but now I've got a full focus on this.

"Football's always been my focus, to get back into the pro game, but now it's a focus to stay in it.

"My dad's seen me playing football since I was five-years-old and he's never wanted anything, he's just let me do my thing, he took me here, there and everywhere.

"To see his face when I said I've got what I always wanted, and obviously it's hopefully only just the start, it was something I'll never forget."

Were there tears?

"I wouldn't say tears, but it's the first time I've ever seen my dad quite emotional," Wilson said.

"My mum just burst into tears, that's mums isn't it!

"I've got a younger brother who wants to be a footballer as well.

"The way I've done it, playing step seven all the way up to step one, it just shows that if you do apply yourself, it can happen."

The centre-back was at boyhood club Sheffield United as a seven-year-old before being released aged 14.

"I just wasn't growing, wasn't up to speed physically," he said.

"It was heart-breaking, but I'm the kind of kid who doesn't just want to sit down and accept it, I wanted to prove people wrong.

"I actually went back into Sheffield United at about 16, for a year, after growing and impressed pretty well.

"Unfortunately didn't get what I wanted with the contract but it's just about proving people wrong.

"I got released as a kid and then more as an adult. When you're 14, all you know is football, and then you come out of it and you don't know what to do.

"But then as an adult you can reflect that you've not got it because of this or that. At 14 your brain isn't developed enough to know why.

"And when they said 'you're not growing', it felt a bit like a cop out."

Wilson then went into non-league, making his debut as a 16-year-old for Hallam FC.

He then played for Stalybridge Celtic before joining Belper Town, winning promotion and then winning the supporters' player of the year award last season as they were relegated.

"When I first went into non-league I was playing midfield, but when I realised I do want a career in this game, centre-half was where I was going to do better," he said.

"Physically, I'm not the quickest and in midfield you're running after little number tens all day!

"Aerially I'm good, I like stepping in with the ball and moving the ball.

"I've probably played 120, 130 non-league games so it's massively helped experience-wise, I've come up against all-sorts of different strikers, I've had to deal with relegation, I've dealt with promotion, I've learned a lot.

"I think non-league turned me into a man, more than the academy side of things."

Now he has secured a full-time contract, Wilson, who was an unused substitute in Town's 1-1 draw with Southend on Saturday, says his next target is a place in the Halifax team.

motivation now to make a career

"You have that motivation to get a deal, which I've done, and now the motivation is every day," he said.

"This is something I've wanted for a very, very long time, I've been out of it for a very, very long time.

"I'm just the kind of kid who doesn't want to just get here and stay here, I'm not playing at the minute but I want to push myself, get in the side, earn a shirt, play at The Shay, play in-front of the fans and stay in the team.

"That's what every footballer's like, but that's the motivation, is to get in this side.

"It's going to be tough because, especially defensively, we look really, really good but I have to match that and I have to push people and if that's my job at the minute, then so be it.

"If anyone gets caught on their heels and I get in, then it's my job to stay in that side."

Wilson says his best position in Town's current system would be in the middle of the back three.

"I've been used to playing in a back four," he said. "I like playing in the middle but when I was at Sheffield United, Chris Wilder was in charge and he came up with the overlapping centre-backs, so that was my position for a long time.

"The first few weeks here, confidence is a big thing and you're wondering whether to do that or not, but every day, day-by-day, I feel so comfortable playing on the right, passing the ball, going and joining in, making runs and getting round people.

"I don't even mind the left, it's just getting in the team wherever it may be."

When that first-team debut comes, Wilson admits there will be mixed emotions.

"Obviously you can't say there won't be nerves, because there will be, it's just about how you deal with them," he said.

"But more than anything it's just excitement, I've been to The Shay, I went there years ago watching Lee Gregory and always loved it.

"Coming back as a player and seeing the boys play, it's a big ground, it's loud, I'm really, really excited to get going.

"Bring it on, I can't wait."