FRESHER Ryan 'Rocky' Allsop has experienced more ups and downs than a lift engineer in his first year at the coal face.

When he reported back for the start of last season, little did Leyton Orient’s third-choice goalkeeper know what the following 12 months would hold.

Injury to Jamie Jones and Lee Butcher saw Allsop handed his professional debut in a League Cup clash against Charlton at Brisbane Road last August.

An equaliser from ex-Cherries star Mathieu Baudry forced the first round tie into extra-time before Allsop took centre stage during a penalty shootout when he saved a Johnnie Jackson spot kick as Orient progressed.

Although Jones was restored to the starting line-up for Orient’s League One opener at Tranmere, Allsop was recalled following three successive defeats, one of which was a 5-0 drubbing at Everton in the League Cup.

Allsop soon established himself as number one before his refusal to sign a new contract saw him dropped to the bench in early December following 24 appearances for the Londoners.

A free agent, Allsop signed for Cherries during the January transfer window and joined a team of goalkeepers which comprised former England stopper David James, Shwan Jalal, Darryl Flahavan and Benji Buchel.

Handed a watching brief to start with, Allsop was drafted in to face Doncaster at Dean Court in March and was unfortunate to finish up on the losing team.

However, it proved to be the only time he would taste defeat last season as he went on to feature in a club record run of eight successive victories, which saw Cherries win promotion with a game to spare.

Allsop, capped five times by England at under-17 level, also kept five away clean sheets in succession to equal a club best set by the late Ken Bird in 1947-48.

As Allsop again prepares to face Doncaster, the contrasting fortunes of Cherries’ highly-rated goalkeeper have been summed up in his first four games in the Championship.

Impressive home wins against Charlton and Wigan have been tempered with heavy defeats on the road at Watford and Huddersfield with Allsop conceding no fewer than 11 times.

Allsop, who made his 40th career appearance in the League Cup tie at Watford on Wednesday, told the Daily Echo: “It has been good experience to get my first games in the Championship.

“There have been ups and downs and the division is clinical. We had two good home wins including a clean sheet against Wigan. The downs were conceding so many goals away from home.

“Conceding six at Watford was the first time it had happened to me. It was disappointing and it never looks good when that happens. But there is no point dwelling on it because those games have gone.

“You are disappointed at the time but you have to put it behind you and move on otherwise it is going to affect your game. You have to be mentally strong as a goalkeeper because these things are going to happen and there are going to be times when you concede a lot of goals. It is about how you bounce back and react to those games.”

Allsop says Cherries’ goalkeeper coach Neil Moss and rival Flahavan have both had a major influence on his career since he arrived at Dean Court.

“They have both been massive for me,” added the 21-year-old. “They have helped with my learning and improvement. I am still learning the game and have only played a handful of times. They have played hundreds of games so it is good for me to have them around to feed off and pick things up.

“I don’t think any goalkeeper can ever say he is the finished article and you always need to keep working to be better and to improve.”