Kenton Richardson was delighted to be back in action as Carlisle United secured their place in the next round of the Emirates FA Cup with victory over Tamworth.
The defender made his return to the side and played a part in Regan Linney's second goal, delivering the cross which helped create the opportunity.
“It was a good performance, professional from us,” he said.
“I think we created a lot of chances in the game. We can still be a bit more ruthless and put the game to bed, and limit them to a couple of opportunities, but it was a professional performance.”
Following last weekend's goalless draw against Kidderminster Harriers, Richardson felt the Blues had shown the response needed.
“We definitely needed that response. We reviewed the [Kidderminster Harriers] game and it was a bit flat, the tempo was a bit slow.
“You could see early on we wanted to get at them, create tempo, create atmosphere in the game and give the fans something to get behind.
“I think we did that in spells and we managed the game when we had to, so overall we're quite pleased.”
It was also a significant afternoon personally for United's centre-half, who made his full debut for the Blues.
“I was absolutely buzzing to be out there. It's been a long time, I think the last time was Motherwell away in pre-season.
“I was obviously a bit embarrassed to come off with cramp after 55 minutes, but you only get match fit by playing games. I just wanted to try and impact the game as best I could.”
The twenty-seven-year-old also spoke about the importance of bringing leadership and energy to the side.
“It's something you want to do, give a good first impression and a good account of yourself, and try to bring your strengths. For me, a real strength is being a leader, being vocal on the pitch and trying to drive standards and the tempo of the game.
“We want to smother teams, we want to create chances and we want to win.”
Richardson was full of praise for Regan Linney, who bounced back from his missed penalty against Kidderminster Harriers with a brace to secure United's passage to the First Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
“He's one of the best players in the league and he can terrorise defences.
“He deserves that because he's been working hard. He worked hard today and he's a vital, vital player for us.”
There was also praise for academy youngster Will Rafferty, who made his senior debut during the second half.
“It's class. Raff has been unbelievable since he's come in.
“You wouldn't think he's that young when he's trained with us. He's never looked out of place, his attitude is spot on and he's a real credit to the football club. He's a lovely lad.”
Looking ahead to a busy run of fixtures, Richardson believes United must build on their recent results and develop a winning mentality.
“Winning is a habit and it's something we need to create. Off the back of two wins, a draw and another win, we need to keep that run going.
“We're a big club in this league, but we need to have a big club mentality. When we go to teams, we need to put them to the sword and be ruthless.
“You get one goal, you can't settle on that. You want to get two, three or four. It's about building that winning run and to get to where we want to get to, we need to keep going about our business.”
And as for the next round of the Emirates FA Cup, Richardson is hoping for an opportunity to test United against higher-level opposition.
“We want to test ourselves and I think we're confident enough.
“That can really build confidence within the group if you go toe-to-toe with a big side. We want to progress really well in the competition, but anyone big!”