O'Keefe joined the Blues last summer, having previously been with Ipswich Town from the age of nine. He certainly impressed during the Shrimpers tremendous run in the FA Youth Cup last season as Ricky Duncan's side reached the fifth round before losing at Carlisle United.
"I expected to be training with the youth team when we came back in," said O'Keefe who is from Diss in Norfolk. "Over the summer though Ricky Duncan rang me and told me there was a good chance I could be stepping up so make sure I put as much work as I could in during the break we had. It's been really good and you learn new things all the time from the experienced professionals around you. It's definitely helped my own development as a player."
Stuart has taken advantage of the small squad Tilly has to pick from at the moment by being involved in many of the pre-season friendlies topping this off with a brilliant goal in the 4-0 win at Thurrock.
He continued; "It takes a few games to get used to but it's alright now, it's more physical and the tempo is a lot quicker than I have been used to but I don't mind it now. I want to try and be a regular in the reserves and maybe get on the bench for the first team or something like that would be great."
Good Luck Stuart TLG will certainly be keeping an eye on his progress and the way things are going we may see him warming up for a subs appearance sometime in the near future.