INTERVIEW: I had to hit it

Russell Penn on his goal against Workington and the fun day

We caught up with midfielder Russell Penn at the Community Fun Day on Sunday to talk about being up close and personal with the fans and his thumping strike against Workington at the weekend.

"I've been involved in Fun Days like this at my previous clubs but never to this scale," he admitted. "It's fantastic and there's been a great turnout, which was the main thing, because we need all of these supporters this season to help us to improve and kick on.

"The faces of the kids when they were playing with us was great to see. These are the next generation of fans, if not players, so it's good for us to be able to integrate with them when you see how much they enjoy it."

On how he is settling in at his new club, he told us: "I'm really enjoying things at the moment. Training has been fantastic and the games are all about getting fit and being professional.

"I'd like to score a few more goals so it was good to get one against Workington. It's all about impressing the gaffer and hopefully that one caught his eye.

"I think I had to hit it, especially because I knew we had the wind behind us. It sat up nicely and I just had a go. Thankfully it went in. It's nice to score but it's all about getting minutes on the pitch and coming off feeling fit and healthy. You don't want to be sliding in for tackles that aren't there and getting yourself injured.

"We've got a massive game at Portsmouth to kick the season off and it's all about making sure you keep yourself fit for that. We've got a few more games before then and we've got to do what we can to be in the manager's thoughts for that game."

Talking about the week away with the first team at Mottram Hall, he said: "This week will be something a bit different and it will give us a good chance to get to know each other. We'll do a bit of team building and different activities down there. It's a long tough season so it's important that we get on like a family.

"You can see with the lads the gaffer has brought in, alongside the lads who were here last season, that it's a club looking to push on. We're a fit bunch and we've got a good mix of youth and experience.

"There's good competition for places, which can only be healthy, and that's why the gaffer has done it. We've got to push each other right to the end and hopefully we get our rewards." 

On the trip to Cassius Camps, he admitted: "I've never done anything quite like that before. It's one of those things that you won't understand until you've done it. I think my body went into alien mode and it didn't know what was going on.

"It was about pushing yourself but it was also about team building. It would have been easy to give up but the whole squad got us through and made sure we completed it. It was hard but we all felt great at the end of the day."