INTERVIEW: Impressed with what I've seen

“I’m enjoying it here so far and I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen,” he said. “I’m up here a few times a week for training and I train a couple of days with Shrewsbury as well. 

“There’s a good atmosphere in the dressing room and there are a few jokers, as you’d expect. I got here on Thursday last week and the intensity in training was impressive. On a personal note, I do think I still have something to prove every time I go onto the pitch. 

“I want to play at the highest level I can and if that means dropping down a level to help Carlisle with their promotion chances then so be it. I just want to do well with whoever I’m playing for.”

Speaking about how he found out about the interest, he said: “The gaffer pulled me to one side down at Shrewsbury and he tipped me off that Carlisle were interested. I got a phone call from Keith to follow that up and it went on from there. It didn’t bother me that it was interest from a League Two side because I just want to play games.

“I’m not happy if I’m sat on the bench or up in the stands. I much prefer being out there so if I’m going to get that chance here I’m more than happy to come along. I’ve played for Shrewsbury this season so there’s no problem with match fitness, or anything like that. 

“This move is a case of getting game time because I’m not going to feature down there at the moment. They have five or six centre halves and not all of them will be picked. You accept that and deal with it. It is frustrating because all you want is to be playing football. I have over 300 appearances under my belt and I’m not one of those who is willing to sit there and do nothing.”

“There is a very good feeling in the dressing room,” he commented. “It has the same kind of feeling we had when I got promoted with Shrewsbury. It’s a tight group and they all want to do well. 

“We’re only a couple of points off third spot and there are plenty of games still to go. I’m sure we’ll be up there come the end of it. It’s a good style of football we have here. The manager wants us to play football, when it’s the right time to do so, and that’s similar to what we used to do at Crewe. Hopefully my personal performances will improve as the game goes on and we’ll see more of that.

“When it comes to formations I’m comfortable playing in a four or a three. I’m happy on the right or the left of the three because I think I’ve still got a bit of pace to get down the sides. I’ve got a long throw in the locker which I try to use whenever I can as well.”

And on his return to his home town club at the weekend, he said: “Anything can happen in the FA Cup. The worst case for Plymouth is that we take them to a replay. 

“I’m sure we’ll go there and enjoy it. I certainly will with being a Plymouth fan. I was born in Plymouth and I’ve even been a match mascot there in my younger days. My family live there and I always enjoy getting the chance to play against them. I’ve had some good times watching them over the years and there are good memories from the promotion season when Neil Warnock was the manager.

“I’ll have a few friends and family sat in the Plymouth end and a few of them have said they’ll support Carlisle as well. It’s a game we can look forward to.

“As long as we don’t start like we did against Yeovil last weekend we’ll be fine. I know the lads played some good stuff and created decent chances when they lost there earlier in the season so we’ll be looking to take the game to them again. Hopefully it’ll be a positive result.”