Carlisle United Football Club

"It was great to win the game," he admitted. "I know we're unbeaten in five but it feels like quite a while since we won at home. I think it was important that we did that tonight."

"It's always nice to get on the score sheet and it was definitely my goal," he insisted. "I usually get a few texts and messages congratulating me but I've had absolutely nothing tonight. That's because it's gone down as Dave [Symington's] goal everywhere and hopefully that will get sorted." 

"We've done well against the teams at the top and not so well against the teams around us so it was important to put on a good performance," he said. "We need to start creating a gap between ourselves and the teams below us and I think we put on a professional job and did that in this game. We sat back and tried to protect the lead during the second half but I thought we always looked dangerous on the counter attack."

On his new defensive partnership, he said: "Max [Ehmer] is very laid back. I don't think he's had to break sweat in any of his games so far but that's a huge credit to him. 

"He's coming out of his shell and he's growing with confidence in every game he plays. He's communicating better game by game and he's really growing as a player." 

"I didn't see any blood," he commented on his latest head injury. "I just got told to leave the field because there was blood somewhere. Dolly [Neil Dalton] had a look at it at half time and the doctor glued it together. I took the bandage off after the game, expecting to see a big gash, but there's nothing there at all. I'm not really sure what happened to be honest." 

"We have started to put a little bit of a run together so there's no reason we can't carry that on in the game on Saturday," he added. "Confidence is an important part of football and we were all disappointed when we conceded in the last few minutes against Crawley. We made sure we focused on the positives, and we really tried to build on that, and we're still unbeaten from then. 

"It was important the we built on the Rotherham performance, especially because Crewe are one of the teams below us. These are the teams we need to beat. They've got a young side and they've had a few bad results away from home so we looked at the game as one we had to win."

"We got the goals at the right time," he agreed. "When you're struggling it's important to get to half time with a clean sheet and they probably thought they'd managed that last night. Their heads dropped after the first goal and we managed to get the second one straight after. That meant we went into half time on a real high. 

"I was actually going to try and win the header over the lad who flicked the ball out before Dave [Symington] had his shot. In the end it was a good decision to let him head the ball away because it led to the goal. When it came to Dave I had to brace myself because he's got such a powerful shot on him. Luckily I managed to get good contact on it and steer it into the back of the net."

This weekend, of course, takes the central defender back to one of his former clubs. 

"Swindon will be a different game again," he told us. "I think they've probably got better quality in more areas of the pitch. I started my career there and the fans always get behind their side and make it difficult for the away team. 

"I had some good times during my two and a half years there and I owe a lot to Andy King for giving me my chance. My partner and her family are all from Swindon so they'll all be there. It will be nice to go back down and see everybody. I actually scored against them last time I played them, which meant they got relegated, so I don't think I'm too popular down there for that reason."