Before Carlisle United's Enterprise National League clash at home to Eastleigh, we spoke to Midfielder Alex Gilliead.
Speaking to CUTV, he discussed consistency, being a leader in the dressing room and enjoying being back up north.
Here is everything we learnt:
1. TOP OF THE TABLE AND LOVING IT
“In this league, with the top team going up, it’s where we want to be and where we want to stay.
“We’ve had some tough away games and some good performances to go with it, so confidence is high and we’re all happy to be there.”
2. CONSISTENCY IS KEY
“We know we weren’t great against Yeovil; it was a poor performance collectively, but other than that, the majority of our performances and results have been what we’ve wanted.
“We’re all happy and we just need to make sure we keep it going.”
3. NO PRESSURE, JUST FOCUS
“We’ve got a good, level-headed group. We’ve just got to focus on ourselves.
“It’s cliché to say one game at a time, but especially where we are, that’s all we need to do. We’ll not get carried away.”
4. A TURNING POINT AFTER YORK
“It was a bit of a flash in the pan, the results, and then we didn’t really perform against Rochdale either. We looked at both games and what we needed to do better.
“We’ve played about seven or eight since then, and we’ve won or drawn, unbeaten in them. It’s been a good month, but we’ve just got to make sure we can continue that.”
5. BACK UP NORTH AND THRIVING
“I love it, you can tell by the way I’m playing. I’ve worked with the gaffer before; it’s a good group of lads, one of the best I’ve been with.
“I knew a few before I came, and I’ve made good friends since. I loved it here when I was younger, ten years ago, and I want to stay and hopefully have a successful season.”
6. FAMILY, STABILITY, AND SMILES
“Coming back to Carlisle was something I wanted to do, but also to be closer to my family. I’ve got two kids now and my wife, and it’s only an hour away, so it’s quite local.
“I’m happy off the pitch, I’m happy on the pitch, that’s always good.”
7. A LEADER WHO FOUND HIS VOICE
“I’d say I am a leader on the pitch; I do like to talk, sometimes to get myself going. I like to laugh and joke with the lads, and I’m always one of the louder ones.
“It’s just part of my personality. I wasn’t always like this; it’s come with maturity and enjoying my football.”
8. CONFIDENCE, COMPETITION, AND MOMENTUM
“I’m enjoying it, the lads are enjoying it. We’ve been going into games starting well, scoring goals.
“When confidence is high, you try different things and they come off. Everyone knows they need to be at their best because we’ve got good players on the bench and some not even in the squad. As long as you’ve got that, you’ll have a successful team.”
9. TEAM SPIRIT THAT DRAGS YOU OVER THE LINE
“I’ve been in squads where the team spirit is good, and it can drag you over the line in certain games.
“We’ve got good characters, big characters, and they help the others as well. Having a good group of lads is always good and it’ll help in the long run.”
10. FORWARDS FIRING
“I’d like to chip in myself, but I don’t really get forward as much these days. But Cricky (Chris Conn-Clarke), Regan (Linney), Georgie (Kelly), all of them boys, they’re doing well.
“Long may it continue, and hopefully we can keep the run going.”
11. READY FOR A TOUGH TEST
“It’ll be a tough game, the club is trying to get a lot of fans through the door, so it’ll be a good atmosphere.
“We’ve got to focus on ourselves and what we’ve been doing well and make sure we repeat it. If we’re on our game, we can be a good match for anyone in this league.”
12. SHARP IN TRAINING
“We trained today, and it was lively, even though it was very wet. The lads look sharp.
“We’ll train tomorrow again, do a bit of detail on Eastleigh, and go into the game.”
13. BIG CROWD, BIG BOOST
“You want to play in front of big crowds as a player.
“Having a bigger crowd in there will just spur us on more, and hopefully we can give them a good showing.”
14. FANS BACKING THE PROJECT
“Since the last time I was here, 10 years ago, it was good then, and even dropping into the National League, the fans have come back in numbers.
“Winning games helps, and we’ve got to do what we can to keep the numbers high.”
Watch the full interview on CUTV HERE!
