Patrick Brough on his new deal with the club
First year professional Patrick Brough gave us his reaction to the signing of his new deal this week.
“I’m really chuffed it’s all done,” he said. “I was offered it quite a while ago but we still had to get it sorted out. That happened this week and I’m glad to get it over and done with. Now I know I can concentrate on my football.”
“I had a bit of an idea about what the manager wanted when he called me into his office,” he told us. “I’d seen him in the kitchen that morning and he told me he needed to see me later in the day because the club wanted to offer me a new deal.
“I didn’t know whether or not to believe him or if he was winding me up, to be honest. I went along to see him and he explained what it was all going to be and I was just delighted.”
“It’s huge for confidence for this to happen because you know the manager wants you to be here,” he confirmed. “It’s nice to know that and it means you can push on as much as you can.
“I didn’t expect to have these talks this early in the season. Mind you, I didn’t expect to play as much as I have and my aim at the start of the season was just to get in the team as quickly as I could.
“Robbo [Matt Robson] got injured and I knew that was my chance. I then had a run of 12 or 13 games and that was unbelievable. I feel like I played well and my performances kept me in the team, so that was good. I was a bit disappointed not to be involved for the last few games but that just gives me more desire to get back in there.
“When you’ve been told you’re not included you ask yourself why that’s happened and you start to look at how you can get back in. That means you have to work as hard as you can in training and in the reserve games to remind the manager what you can do.”
“Keith Curle has come in and he’s said some nice things,” he said. “My game is all about feeling confident and, when you have that, you believe you can beat anyone.
“He’s told me not to worry about making mistakes and he wants me to go out there and try things. He said I’ve to show people what I can do and keep working on the things I do best. He wants me to take people on, get the ball in the box and create chances.”
“I don’t think the contract talks affected my football at all,” he commented. “I knew it was going to be sorted and it was just a matter of when that was going to happen.
“My next target now is to get myself back in the team. I’m going to work as hard as I can to do that and then I want to stay there. I’d like to get a goal to my name as well. I’ve hit the bar and the post, so I’ve been close, and I’m sure it’ll come.
“It’s been an amazing few months for me overall. Telling my family I had a pro deal was amazing anyway, because I didn’t want to be in a position where I had to tell them I hadn’t been offered one.
“It’s nice to be in a position so soon into the new season to let everyone know that I’ve got this one done. It does make it more special because I'm from round here. When we win I go home and people tell me they enjoyed the match, and things like that, and it’s good to hear.”
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