Mark Gillespie on his new contract
Keeper Mark Gillespie gave us his thoughts on staying with Carlisle United as he secured a new deal to take him through to the summer of 2015.
He said: “The club started to talk to me about a month ago to see if anything could be done and I think it goes without saying that I was more than happy to extend my stay by another year.
“I suppose you can take it as a ‘well done’ when you get a new contract offer but the important thing is that I can focus on my football now. The run of games has really helped and I just want to take that on and improve in as many areas as I can.
“The games I got were my first real taste of first team football at this level and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of the feedback I got from that was positive. We picked up some good results but we conceded some goals as well, and there is always stuff to work on. I’ve been able to look at that as we have done our stuff in training.
“The contract and the appearances have been a massive boost for my confidence. I want more of it now so it’s up to me to try to get a place back in the team. Nothing has changed with the way I work with Adam [Collin] other than it’s a bit more intense out on the training pitch. We both want to do the best we can, because we both want to play, and that can only be good for everyone.
“I think the strengths I bring are my communication, distribution and shot stopping. I want to keep working on coming for crosses, I need to be stronger with that, but I think that will get better the more I play.
“With the length of the contract I have now I think my aim has to be to get into the team and stay there. That’s what all my work will be focused on as we move on from here.”
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