BEN Alnwick is just getting warmed up, after getting the shock of his life as a sub.

The Wanderers keeper was plunged into a nightmare league debut a fortnight ago, replacing the injured Mark Howard 10 minutes into a televised game against his former club Peterborough United.

It was the first time in Alnwick’s 13-year professional career that he had entered the field as a substitute and, by his own admission, he struggled to adapt to the speed on the game.

Since then, however, the 29-year-old summer signing has fared much better

“It’s never the way you want to make your debut,” he told The Bolton News. “I couldn’t have wished for a worse place.

“I was a little shell-shocked. It is a nightmare as a goalkeeper. As an outfielder you can come on one week, start the next, but as a keeper you can go a few months without having a proper kick of the ball.

“In your warm-up you can do 20 goal kicks if you are starting a game, the basics, which when you come on against your old club and are getting dog’s abuse you can find it hard to pick up.”

Alnwick bore the full brunt of Posh fans’ fury in the 1-0 defeat, just a few months on from his decision to quit London Road to be closer to his family.

Eyebrows were raised when the former Sunderland and Tottenham stopper swapped regular football with Wanderers’ League One rivals to compete for a shirt with Mark Howard.

But he insists the motive for leaving Peterborough was nothing to do with his career.

“To be honest, the move was completely non-football related,” he added.

“My family lives not far from Carlisle and I’m straight down the M6. I was loving it at Peterborough, got on with everyone and was enjoying my football but it was getting to the point that I couldn’t stay with them up north. It was more of a personal thing.

“To get a chance to come to a club like Bolton, whether that’s as a number one or to fight it out, it was a no-brainer.

“Fans don’t always hear both sides of the story, with Twitter and all that.

“I think a lot of things were misread. It was more to get home. I can be there four nights a week here and can travel down and stay a couple of nights. When you are happy at home you play and train better, and that is the way I feel.”

With Howard out for three months with a damaged thumb, Alnwick now has the chance to help Wanderers continue their fine start to the season into the New Year.

And he is convinced the club can challenge for an automatic promotion spot.

“When the club came down there may have been a negative vibe but I think there is a good group of lads here now, a good manager and a good coaching staff," he said. "They are pulling in the same direction.

“There are some good teams in this league but I see no reason why we shouldn’t be up there."