Winger Matty Robson signed a two-year deal with United in the summer of 2009.

Durham-born Robson began his career as a youngster at Hartlepool United, having previously played for the Sunderland School of Excellence.

After impressing during the first year of his YTS contract with Pools, he was offered his first professional deal at the age of 17 and made his debut in October 2002 in a Johnstone's Paint Trophy game against Tranmere Rovers.

The following season saw Matty more involved with the first team setup at Pools and he made his full league debut on the opening day of the season at Peterborough, scoring in an incredible 4-3 win after coming back from 3-1 down.

He went on to hold down a regular first-team place for much of the 2003/04 season until injury brought his campaign to an end in March 2004. While he was mostly used in his preferred left-wing position, he was also used as left-back when required.

The 2004/05 season saw Matty start to hold down a regular starting berth for Hartlepool and was part of the side that just missed out on promotion to the Championship after losing 4-2 to Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium.

He went on to make over 100 league appearances during his seven years at Victoria Park but after finding first team opportunities hard to come by in his final season, opted to leave the club in the summer of 2009 when his contract expired.

It wasn't long before he found himself a new club as Greg Abbott moved to bring Robson to Brunton Park on a two-year deal. Deployed in his preferred position on the left-wing, he made an instant impact and became a huge fans favourite.

His first season was the most productive of his career so far, making 53 appearances and scoring 7 goals in all competitions. He was on course to be an ever-present for The Blues until a foot injury ruled him out of the rest of the campaign with just seven games left to play.

His pace and workrate caused problems for defenders throughout League One and his ability to shoot from distance proved fruitful. His performances throughout the season were recognised at the club's End of Season awards night in May 2010 when he picked up three awards, including Fans Player of the Season and the Goal of the Season award for his superb solo effort against Bradford City in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Matty found himself out of the starting line-up at the start of the 2010/11 campaign due to a change in formation and was mostly used as an impact sub in the first half of the season. But after an injury ruled out first-choice left-back Sean McDaid and several loan players failing to hold down the role for long, Matty was asked to switch into defence from left-wing for the rest of the season.

He impressed over the next few months, growing into the role and putting in some assured performances, including an impressive display in the 1-0 win over Brentford at Wembley Stadium in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final.

Now permanently covnerted into the left-back role, Matty is proving a solid addition to the defence while offering a valuble assett going forward with his pace and trickery.

Under contract until the summer of 2013.