Carlisle United Football Club

We spoke to him about his goal, and the game, shortly after full time.

“I think we played well and overall we probably deserved the win,” he said. “We just need to keep playing like that, do what we’ve been doing in the last few games and we’ll be fine.

“There’s a lot of confidence in the group and we seem to be playing with smiles on our faces. That was the same in this game. We tried to pass it a bit more and, when we did, I thought we looked quite dangerous.”

“We’re on a decent run at the moment and we’ve managed to keep a few clean sheets as well,” he added. “That’s credit to the way everyone has defended and hopefully we’ll keep progressing and doing that. 

“I think everyone thought we were heading for another clean sheet and I do feel the penalty was a bit soft. The referee made his decision and there’s obviously nothing we could do about that. 

“He went down easily and unfortunately for us it was given. Nothing much was said in the dressing room after the game because we know we just need to pick ourselves up and go again to look for a result next weekend.

“If we’d managed to get the second goal I think that would have been it. I was disappointed with myself that I didn’t get another, but sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t.” 

Speaking about his second half goal, which gave United the lead, he said: “I knew it had a chance as soon as I hit it. It kind of swerved at the end to go into the bottom corner and I was delighted that it went in. 

“It’s been a while since I got one. I had a couple of shots before that and I should have scored after it when I put a volley over the bar. I obviously like scoring but the main thing is that the lads play well and we keep getting results. It’s not about me scoring.”

On the celebration in front of the Paddock, which included the substitutes as well as the players on the pitch, he said: “There’s a good team spirit and I think we do show that in the way we approach the games and the way we react when we score goals. 

“We all know what we need to do and we know we have to work hard for each other. We need to keep that up so we stay in this league and push up and away from the bottom of the table.

“The league table is looking a lot healthier and we’d have had a six point gap if we’d got the win. We’ll go to Oxford next week targeting three points even though we know it’ll be a difficult game. We’re confident we’ll get the job done and we’ve just got to pick as many points up as we can as quickly as possible.”

And on the news revealed this week that contract negotiations have reopened between his representatives and the club, he said: “I don’t really get involved in any of that. I’ve talked to the gaffer and I’ve told him I just want to concentrate on my football and get back to playing the way I was. That means I can let others take care of the contract stuff. 

“I’m enjoying my football and I love playing here. With the injury, and not training as much as I wanted to, I was feeling a bit sluggish but that has got better with the more I’ve been involved. Hopefully the fans are seeing that I do actually want to be here now. I’ve spoken to my agent and he’s been speaking to the club, so hopefully they’ll sort everything out between them.”