INTERVIEW: I'm really proud

Midfielder Callum Guy made his 200th career appearance at Plough Lane on Saturday, and we caught up with him on Monday morning to get his thoughts on that, as well as his current form.

"I’m really proud to have made it to 200 appearances," he said. "I’ve had quite a few injuries as well so I’m really happy to have got to 200 already. I don’t want to rest on that though, I want to get another 200 and more after that as well.

"Over 120 of them have been for Carlisle and I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. I’ve been here over three years now and thankfully I’ve played a lot of games under various managers, and long may that continue.

"I feel like I’ve got a good connection with the fans and three years is quite a long time in football now. My family have basically grown up here coming to all of the home games, and they love it up here as well, so it’s been nice.

"The kids love a Saturday home game, they don’t like it so much when I’m away! It means a lot that they come up to all of the games and I just want to keep making them proud.

"I kind of ruined the 200 appearance thing because I actually thought it was on Tuesday night, so I missed it on Saturday. Abbie wasn’t happy because she had a little something planned but we’re all still proud of it."

Looking back at when it all started, as a youth player with Derby County, he told us: "When you’re a young player trying to make it in football you never really think about making a lot of appearances because you just want to get started.

"That’s why I’m really proud to get to 200. There are so many lads who want to be a professional footballer so to be one that makes it is really good. It’s a dream job and I remind myself of that when I come into work every day, I give it my all in training and in games."

"I am a bit of a joker in the dressing room but I think it’s important to be able to make the switch when it needs to be serious," he explained. "You have to put everything in every day and take it seriously because everything matters and helps build up to game day on a Saturday.

"We’ve got a really good bunch of lads this year and it feels like we’re all performing well. We know we’ve got lads on the bench who are really eager to come on and they’re all doing a really good job as well.

"It’s important to stay on top of your game because we’ve got a big squad now and everyone wants each other’s places. That’s a good thing because it means you’ve got to stay on it to keep that shirt."

And on his partnership in midfield with Owen Moxon, he said: "I really enjoy playing with Mox and we’ve got on really well ever since he arrived.

"We bounce off each other and even though we’re different players I think we have a lot of similarities at the same time. We know when one of us goes forward that the other one needs to sit and I feel like we’ve done really well together this season." 

An almost ever present in midfield, starting all but one game in the league, we asked him about his personal form: "I feel like I’m playing well, I’m really enjoying it and it definitely helps when you’re winning games.

"I did feel like after I scored my first goal I would get a few more. I thought I’d scored on Saturday actually but the keeper made a good save. As long as I’m adding things to the team and contributing in every game I’m happy.

"I feel a bit freer this year to get forward and take more shots on. Playing with Mox and Gibbo helps that because we have a good understanding of when to go forward and when someone needs to sit.

"When I go forward this year I know Mox will be behind me so I can maybe take a few more risks. I think I can take a few more shots too, but I’ll take three goals for the moment!"

And on what the team can achieve this season, the focus is very much on what's to come.

"I think it’s important for us all to focus on what we’ve still got to do in the season rather than thinking about what we’ve done so far," he told us.

"I think we’ve got 16 games left and they’re all massive, and they’re all way more important than the ones we’ve already played.

"I think if you’d offered any of us this position at the start of the season we all would have snapped your hands off after last year, but it means nothing if we don’t follow it through in the next 16 games. We’ve got two home games this week and we really enjoy playing in front of our fans.

"We’ve been getting some really good attendances so if the fans can keep coming between now and the end of the season it will really help us. The lads buzz off it, the away support has been ridiculous as well.

"For us to take over 1,000 to London is crazy and we just have to thank the fans for what they’re doing, hopefully we can keep putting smiles on their faces.

"We know the fans are so passionate about this club, we can see the potential it’s got and we’ve just got to keep pushing on the pitch to keep the fans coming."

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