Ambitious Sheffield Wednesday loanee on scrutiny, survival confidence and toxic atmospheres

It's no shock statement from a Sheffield Wednesday loanee goalkeeper signed to a Premier League side on board with England under-20s. Hugely highly-rated by those to have worked with him, the 19-year-old speaks with an understated surety that belies his young age. His loan from parent club Brighton & Hove Albion is the latest step in a career tipped to go to the top; Wednesday a club chosen not only for the presence of his former coach Sal Bibbo but for the pressures and expectation that comes with playing for it.

He won't be 20 until July but in having moved from Charlton Athletic to the south coast in January 2022 and having already enjoyed loan stints in all three divisions of the Football League, it seems Beadle's progression is carefully managed and going to plan. With every respect to Crewe Alexandra and Oxford United, his two previous temporary gigs, Wednesday provides a different level of pressure and exposure. A mistake playing out from the back at Leicester last week delivered his first taste of public inspection. He's a youngster ready to roll with the punches.

"There is a lot more scrutiny (at Wednesday, compared to his previous loan clubs), but at the end of the day I want to play at the top level," he said. "Wednesday is a massive club and ultimately I want to play at a club like Wednesday in the Premier League, so I need to get used to that, keep improving and keep learning.

"At the top level, scrutiny is like it is here. You want to play for the biggest clubs so getting used to that early and adapting to that pressure early is a good thing.

"I stay off my Twitter now, to be honest. Sometimes you need to stay in your little bubble and that's what I've tried to do, to be fair. You learn from your mistakes and it's a learning curve for me, I'm still young and I'm still trying to improve every day so I think it will be a big part of my life and my career, learning from those little bumps in the road and learning to react positively and improving from them."

It's not just from the Owls fan base that Beadle is gaining valuable experience. A clean sheet at Millwall - his third in six Wednesday appearances - saw the teenager make important saves as he did in the shutout against Birmingham City. A furious Millwall faithful were as vocal as you'd expect any set of fans and as the match went on the volume - and the nature of their feedback towards players on both sides - was turned up.

A teenager he may be, Beadle took the venom in his stride as another experience to learn from.

"It was a good win and one we needed, obviously it was a toxic atmosphere," he said. "You hear everything to be fair, I think it was quite funny. We know we need to keep going, get on a bit of a run and it feels like we're heading in the right direction. Every game we go into we believe we can win and hopefully we can do that.

"Every game we look to get three points. We have a good group of players and when I came in I was really impressed with the standard of training, every day every training session is such a high level and the tactical detail from the gaffer and Henrik is unreal.

"It would be a massive achievement (to stay up) and hopefully I can do my bit to help us along the way. Everyone here believes we're going to stay up, we all have belief in the team, so why not?"