Centre back Peter Grant had little hesitation in agreeing to a move up north from his former club Plymouth almost as soon as he was made aware that the opportunity to come here was on the table.
We spoke to him about the move moments before he met his new team mates for the first time.
“I’m delighted to be here and I’m looking forward to getting going,” he said. “I’m joining a club which is in a great position in the league and hopefully I can try and add to the team and get the club where they want to be come the end of the season.
“I wanted to come to a club where I had the opportunity to get back playing football again. I had a run in the team at Plymouth earlier in the season, but it was in difficult circumstances.
"We had injuries to main players in the team and the results weren’t great, so it was a difficult period. I found myself out of the team and it got to a point a couple of months ago where I knew that if the right opportunity came up once the window opened for me to get back playing regular football, I would look at it.
"Thankfully I’ve got an opportunity here to come to a good club and try and earn my place in a team that is doing really well at the moment."
With options to go elsewhere we wondered what it was that had swung his decision United's way.
“There’s nothing better than when you speak to a manager who makes you feel wanted," he explained. "Tthat’s massive for a player. He made it clear that he wanted me to come here and that does give you confidence.
"When you feel like you’re going somewhere with a manager who knows your attributes and knows you can add to their team, it’s important. I feel like I can do that. I want to come here and contribute and add to the good group of players who are already here.
"I’ll give everything for the team and hopefully we can all get the success we want at the end of the season. It is exciting to come to a team who are really pushing for promotion, and that was another added bonus when I was looking for somewhere where I can try and get game time again.
"When you’re coming to a club that’s fourth in the league, that does add a little bit more to it. I’m looking forward to the run-in now and to seeing how far we can go."
And on what he wants from himself over the next 16 games, he said: “I want to try and prove myself every day and show what I can do.
"I’ll try and do that on a Saturday or Tuesday, and every day in training, or whenever I’m called upon. I believe in my abilities and I believe I can add something to the team. Hopefully it will all come together, and we’ll get to where we want to be.
“I like to think I’ve got a few strings to my bow but first and foremost I pride myself on being the best defender I can be. My job is to keep clean sheets and be effective in both boxes, defending and attacking. I want to be the number one defender in my area and try and dominate games."
Having cut his teeth at Peterborough and Falkirk, he said: “I was working under Darren Ferguson early in my career at Peterborough, which was fantastic.
"That was when I first got into a first team group, and we were in the Championship at that point, so it was a great experience for me as a 17-year-old lad.
“I went out on loan to learn my trade in the Conference South with Histon and that was absolutely fantastic for me. I was a young centre half up against some good, experienced strikers who had played at higher levels. That was exactly what I needed.
“I then had a fantastic time up at Falkirk for four-and-a-half years. I played and scored in a Scottish Cup final, was involved in the play-offs, and played against the so-called big teams up there.
"When I went to Falkirk it was Gary Holt who signed me on a pre-contract, but I didn’t actually get to work with him because he left to go to Norwich during the summer I was due to arrive.
"I ended up working under Peter Houston and his staff for a good while and I learned a lot from them. I’ve got a lot to thank him for, I had a fantastic time and we had a really good group of players."
“I then got the opportunity to come back down to England and I think it was the right time for me to do that," he continued. "Like I said, I went to Plymouth, but I’m here now and this is a challenge I’m really looking forward to.
"I’ve had some good experiences, which have been fantastic, but I’m raring to go again. The team are playing really well so I know I’m going to have to fight to be involved. To be honest, that's the same at every club.
"Regardless of results at a club, I look at every day as a challenge. I want to try and prove that I deserve to be playing. I want to try and show the manager I'm good enough and as long as I concentrate on doing my job every day in training I know I’ll be ready."
Having joined on a short-term contract, we wondered if that had given him any second thoughts ahead of completing the deal.
“I think length of contracts don’t mean a lot in football these days," he told us. "You can be on a four-year contract but be out the door very quickly, that’s the way football is now.
"I’ll just take things game by game and I’ll make sure I concentrate on being ready when called upon. I’ll take everything the manager and coaching staff ask of me on board and I'll be working hard to make sure I do as well as I can."
Click HERE to watch an interview with Peter Grant on iFollow United now.
Click HERE to see a clip from this interview on our YouTube channel. Follow the same link for more FREE content right from the heart of the club.
