We spoke to striker Sam Cosgrove on Thursday evening as he put pen-to-paper on a new deal with United which will keep him at Brunton Park until the end of the season.
“It’s been a tough first six months for me personally,” he said. “I think it’s been the same for the team, we’ve had highs and lows with some great performances and some under-average performances. I’m buzzing to get the extra time here.
“I didn’t really know what was going on until I actually came in to sign the extension. It came out of the blue after the game on Monday really, so it’s been tough, but I’ve just stuck at it as much as I could and tried to earn it.
“I think something I’ve got is a tough mentality, I’ve always worked hard and shown the right commitment in training, so hopefully that’s proved to the gaffer and the staff that I’ve earned this contract.
“The start on Monday and the contract both came out of the blue. I had to treat the start as a bit of an ultimatum in my mind, because I knew it was my one chance to prove myself before the end of my first deal. I thought I gave a good account of myself."
“Colin West spoke to me before the game and told me if I won my first header it would give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the game," he told us. "I did win it, so I felt good after that.
“With the header that hit the post, I didn’t actually see it, because I was on the floor as soon as I’d made contact with it. I just heard the crash off the post, then another crash, and I didn’t really know what was going on.
"Those are the fine margins in games. That was the difference between us making it 2-2 and potentially going on to win the game, and them going down the other end and making it 3-1, which was almost game over."
On what he's leearned through his first six months with the club, he said: “I’ve learned a lot. I’ve had a couple of loan spells in the last couple of years, but to be involved in a first team environment day in day out, and get glimpses of first team action, is massive.
"I think I’ve had to develop my game leaps and bounds in different ways to deal with the different kinds of football we’re playing, but it’s something I’m really enjoying and I feel like I’m progressing well.
“Everyone is pushing each other in the squad every day. Hopefully the performance I put in on Monday will help push us all on even more. From now until the end of the season I just want to get as much pitch time as I can and get as much fitness through my legs as I can. I felt like I was running through treacle a little bit towards the end of the game on Monday, so I need to improve my match fitness."
“Obviously on top of the pitch time I want to get goals," he said. "I could have made a good start on Monday with that header but, as I say, those are the fine margins in football. My personal targets are to get as much pitch time and as many goals as I can but, within the group, we want to make a real push for the play-offs.
"The league is so tight and if you think about some of the points we’ve dropped we could be in the play-offs now, and not far away from the automatic spots. If we can put a couple of good runs together we can definitely get ourselves right back amongst it.”
