Carlisle United Football Club

Charlie Wyke on pre-season and scoring goals

United forward Charlie Wyke went toe-to-toe with Jabo Ibehre to claim the club top scorer slot last season but his personal best of 15 for the campaign wasn’t quite enough as his colleague claimed the crown in dubious circumstances.

“I was pleased with my goals to games ratio but I’ll be looking to improve on that this season,” he said. “I got to close to catching Jabo on goals scored but it was a bit of a dodgy decision which took him away in the end.

“I’m pretty sure his last goal of the season was actually Jason Kennedy’s but he put his hand up to claim it and they gave him it. It’s healthy competition between the two of us and I think it’s good to have that.

“You want strikers scoring goals in your squad and we both just want to carry that on. The only target I’m setting myself is to score as many as I can. Hopefully that will be more than last season. I thought it was a good season and I enjoyed every minute of it.”

On the pre-season training package so far, he said: “It’s been tough. You know the more you get pushed the fitter you’re going to get and the gaffer has told us all to put everything we’ve got into every session. I feel like I’m in good shape but I tend to be quite fit anyway.

“I’ve obviously enjoyed being able to have a break and go on holiday but you do start to get bored. That’s why it’s nice to be back with the lads.”

“The pre-season games start next week and they’re good because I’m sure we’ll all feel a bit rusty,” he told us. “It’s in those games that you start to get your touch and things like that back.

“We’ve talked about Jabo but Shaun Miller is here as well, so there’s no guarantee on who will start. That’s why I’ve come back as fit as I can be and to do as well as I possibly can.

“We’ve got a great squad so I’m definitely feeling promotion. We have players who’ve experienced it before and I think we’ll be really disappointed if it doesn’t happen.”