Jamie Devitt on the Colchester and Morecambe games
We spoke to midfielder Jamie Devitt after training on Tuesday about the Colchester game last weekend and we took a look ahead to Saturday's home game against his former club.“We had a good talk in the dressing room after the Colchester game and we had another good chat yesterday," he told us. "We had a bit of a debrief and we watched some of the game back, but it’s gone now to be honest. We just need to move on and put it right on Saturday.
“I think you have to take time to look back so we don’t make the same mistakes again. We’ve had a good meeting about it and when we were watching the game back, after ten minutes or so you would have thought there was only going to be one winner.
“We conceded at the wrong times but playing the game it didn’t feel like we were under any pressure. It was a bit strange to be honest. We’ve put it to bed now and we’re all just looking forward to Saturday."
“I enjoyed playing in the middle of midfield," he continued. "Obviously the result wasn’t what we needed but hopefully we can put it right. I got a lot of the ball, even though it was a bit strange for me, but when the gaffer named the team on Friday I was looking forward to the game.
“I think in a couple of the papers I was named as man of the match and you’ve just said a few of the fans were saying the same, which is always nice. I’d rather not get man of the match and win 4-1, but it is nice to hear. If I’m named in the team on Saturday hopefully I can do the same but get the right result."
“I don’t think the last two results knock the confidence," he insisted. "I don’t think you can let yourself get too down. It would be different if we were at the bottom of the league and we couldn’t get a win, but we’re in a good position in the league. We need to look at that, we’re there for a reason, so confidence should still be high.
“Our aim is still to get to the top of the league. Even after we’ve lost two games we’re not looking at who is behind us, we’re looking at who is in front of us. As a group we don’t want to finish third, we want to finish first. We’d obviously take third because it would mean we were promoted, but we want to finish as high as we can."
Ahead of the game at Brunton Park against Morecambe on Saturday, he said: “I’ve already exchanged some texts with some of the lads so it will be good to see them again on Saturday. It’s just business to be honest. I’m a Carlisle player now and I’ll do whatever it takes for us to win that game on Saturday.
“I’m not sure what I would do if I scored against them. I’ve not scored yet this season, which is a bit disappointing. It will probably depend on which way the game is going. If I scored the winner in the 90th minute I don’t see how I couldn’t celebrate. I couldn’t tell you what I might do to be honest.
“I loved my time at Morecambe, I’m still close to everybody there and I wish them the best of luck, but on Saturday getting three points for Carlisle is all I’m worried about. I’ll speak to the lads after the game to catch up but before the game my focus will be on getting three points."
On watching the off-field situation develop at Morecambe, he said: “I’ve spoken to a few of the lads and they're going through a hard time. The fans paid the gaffer’s fine on Saturday, and I think that’s probably how clubs like that keep going.
"They have a great spirit and I think that comes from the manager and his assistant. They run it like it's a family and if it wasn’t for Jim [Bentley] and Ken [McKenna] they probably wouldn’t still be in the league."
Speaking about his current team's run of form, he said: “We obviously haven’t started 2017 the way we wanted. If anybody had put us in this position at the start of the season I don’t think anybody would have said no. We could have lost two games early on in the season then started winning and everyone would be on a high, so I think we’ve got to look at it that way.
“If anyone had said we’d have a four point gap to the play-off places we would have bitten their hand off. We’re still in a good position and we’ve got some good games this month that we need to get results in. Next month is a tough month where we all seem to play each other so everyone is excited and looking forward to it.
“There is a real belief around the dressing room that we can see this through. Everybody is in a confident mood around the training ground and I don’t see why not. Training was bright this morning and everybody is in good spirits. You can have a laugh and joke but there’s a time where we need to be serious and we’re doing that with Saturday in mind.”
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