JUST four months ago he was playing against Premier League-bound Blackpool.

But James McKeown insists he had no qualms about dropping into non-league football with Boston United.

The goalkeeper has enjoyed a dream start to his Pilgrims career – three clean sheets in his first three games – since arriving on loan from Peterborough United on the eve of the season.

The 21-year-old figured fleetingly for Peterborough in the Championship last season as Posh were relegated to League One.

After facing Blackpool and Nottingham Forest, the Birmingham-born stopper will come up against the likes of Blyth Spartans and Vauxhall Motors in Blue Square Bet North.

But with the highly-rated Joe Lewis in front of him in the London Road pecking order, further chances of first-team football under Gary Johnson were always going to be hard to come by.

And McKeown, who was on the verge of joining Barrow before Boston stepped in, believes York Street will be the perfect place to gain some much-needed first-team experience.

"I've got no problem with that (dropping down), I just want to play games," declared the former Walsall trainee, who has joined the Pilgrims until January.

"I nearly went to Barrow, which is a long way away, and Boston is only down the road.

"And it's a good club. I didn't think it would be as good as it is. The set-up is first-class. I'm here until January, but we'll see what happens.

"I don't think they'll be in this division very long. Hopefully they can get promotion this season.

"For a goalkeeper, it doesn't matter what level you play at – you've still got to kick the ball and do the same things."

And McKeown says he would consider staying at York Street beyond January.

"I'd be happy to stay," he added. "But you never know what is going to happen in football.

"Joe could get injured at Peterborough or I might not do that well. Who knows?"

McKeown made his Football League debut in early 2008 for Peterborough against Wrexham when he replaced the injured Lewis.

His next game came more than a year later as Posh won promotion.

The youngster's Championship baptism of fire arrived against Forest when he again replaced the injured Lewis.

McKeown endured a torrid debut in the second tier (Posh lost 2-1), but demonstrated his potential against Barnsley and Blackpool at the end of the season as Posh fought to stave off relegation.

"I played against Forest early on and didn't have the best of games," he recalled.

"I didn't play much after that because when Joe is fit, he plays.

"I've been a bit frustrated with that, but I'm still only young.

"At the end of last season I played a couple of more games.

"We were pretty much relegated then so it was a good way to start because there wasn't that much pressure.

"But you're playing against some really good players and I enjoyed it.

"The Forest game was a bit of an eye-opener, but you can only learn from it.

"I played against Blackpool later in the season and I felt a lot more comfortable."

To read the first installment of our brand new Boss's Brief column with Rob Scott, see page 58.