United boss Greg Abbott (GA) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Paul Newton (PN) at Thursday lunchtime's open press conference for the local media, Abbott first talking about the visit of Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio to Brunton Park on Saturday afternoon:
GA
He will not have come up with anything like what he is going to come up with on Saturday. He is probably better off not reacting, but I would think with his personality and his character he will find that very difficult. I am just going to take four or five more steps to my left than I usually do and let them have their fun. But, a lot of it is good banter, if he takes it in the right way they will love him, they will absolutely love him.
He loves the game, you can see he does it with a passion and he was quite amusing to watch when I watched the Preston v Swindon game. You can see his despair with his team and how animated he is, it is his characteristic, it is his way of doing things and I will take a few more steps to the left I think on Saturday.
Whatever he does for me is absolutely fine because it won't affect me, he is interesting, he is extrovert, he is no more passionate than us. However many times he waves his arms around he is still no more passionate than anybody else, but it is fantastic to watch. He was waving his arms around the day without him realising that the half-time whistle had gone, but that is great for the game.
PN
How is your squad shaping up ahead of the weekend?
GA
Yeah, good, a win always sees everybody on the training ground, it is amazing how injuries seem to heal pretty quickly. But, we have got everybody near enough back fit, obviously apart from the obvious ones, but looking forward to it, a strong squad, as strong as we can have and we are hopeful that we can go on again and get a little bit of a run going.
A couple of wins now going into home games, or a win and a draw, that sort of result puts your probably in the top six, which is ridiculous, when if we had lost on Saturday it might have put us in the bottom six. So, it is important even just reading the table to get a mental positive vibe off it by being in the top half. We are looking forward to two home games and hope to build on that result at Hartlepool, which was really tough again.
PN
Lee Miller, expected to come back maybe a bit sooner than initially you had first thought?
GA
Yeah, he has gone away to Scotland for a few days to let the injury settle down, he is in plaster I think at the minute. He will go into the boot, we will have a look at it when the plaster comes off and see how he goes with that, and then we will look at him in two or three weeks time and see if he can be quickened up, but it looks like it is going to be better news than it was.
PN
And Rory Loy, what is the latest on his situation?
GA
Rory looks like he is going to be back round the training ground on Monday, Dolly (Neil Dalton) is going to take a good look at him over the weekend. It is one that because he has been out for so long I am just waiting until he appears on the training ground rather than to try to push things and work out where and when he is. So, hopefully Monday he will be back round something doing some sort of rehab work.
PN
One player who departed this week is Michael O'Halloran, just 12 days into his loan period with the club, what was the thinking behind that?
GA
Yeah, that was Michael came with an attitude where he thought he was going to come straight in and straight into the team and play straight away. He got himself rather upset that he wasn't playing and indicated that he felt that he would be better off back at Bolton rather than fighting for a place here.
We as a club are really powerless with a player with that mindset, he is desperate to play, there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes patience and sometimes bedding yourself into a club first is important. So, he made the decision to go back, as soon as he made that decision that he wanted to return then we have to honour that, because at this club we only want people that really, really want to play for us and want to work hard within the group and within what we do.
PN
The emergency loan window is open this week, any movement on that front?
GA
There is a bit of movement, there are a lot of enquiries have gone in this week and a lot of work done, just incase work if you know what I am saying if that makes sense. We have got James Berrett who is on a last booking, he is on four bookings already, we have got Jake (Jervis) who is in the last week of his loan, we have got to have a look at that and what the situation is there. So, we have got areas where we think that we may need players and we are doing the work just incase these situations hit a stage where we have to do one.
Again, especially looking at the Michael situation, I think it is important that we get the right people in and the right players in, and don't always go for the first one that drops into our hand. We have been good with that in the past and we need to maintain that strategy of getting the right people in. Sometimes just a month isn't ideal for anybody because you are very, very quickly having to replace that situation. So, we look forward to trying to make the right signings happen as and when those players and those positions are warranted.
PN
With regard to Jake Jervis, is a decision on whether you extend that loan likely to be taken after his final game?
GA
I think we will probably do it on Monday or Tuesday, we will speak to Jake, speak to Lee (Clark) at Birmingham and we will assess what he has done and where we think he has taken us and then we go from there. Because, we want to make sure the player, who has given his all to be fair, he is really happy, he likes the people that he has worked for, likes the place, likes the fact he is around the first team. So, we respect all that, speak to the relevant people and then we will go from there.
PN
And one player who has been training with the club this week is Femi Orenuga, a former Everton player, what can you tell us about him?
GA
I can tell you that you are better at the languages than I am, I have just said I am going to call him Femi all through the period he is with us. No, listen, he has come in today and we have been really pleased with him, he has brought a brightness to the training ground again. He is a young player that moved from Southend early on in his career, ended up at Everton in a compensation deal I think through his Academy.
Jimmy Lumsden and Alan Irvine who were at Everton and I know really, really well have said he is definitely worth a look, and that is all it is at the minute without us getting into it. He is a quick winger that can play right or left, handles the ball really well, sometimes does one trick too many but we have had one of those before in our club and he was very, very effective. So, if he could be anywhere near as effective as that then we have something to go at.
But, he is in having a look at us and we are having a look at him, he is only 19 and that is where it is right now. But, it is certainly a position and a type of player that is different to the types of player we have got at the minute. He certainly handles the ball and he has got that skill and a trick and that bit of something to make things happen. Whether he can put it all together and be effective for us, who knows, we will find that out in the next nine to ten days.
PN
Alessio Bugno scored a goal in midweek in the Cumberland Cup but has found himself out of the matchday squad in recent weeks. Is that a message you are sending to him about the level of performance maybe that is expected of the player at this level?
GA
No, it is difficult, it is difficult, it is a different culture and he has not come from the top end of the Italian spectrum, he has come from a little bit lower down. It takes time and he is going to get that time, but we have to make decisions and pick teams on what we think are the most effective now. I don't think anybody would argue that Chris Chantler is not doing exceptionally in the five or six games he has come in and it buys Alex time. Alex has got to manage that frustration because he wants to play.
PN
How has he responded to that disappointment of finding himself out of the matchday squad?
GA
No, listen, he will be frustrated and a bit upset, but it will be a long two years in England for him if he gets uspet too quickly. But, he is understanding it is different, it is quicker, the game is tough, there is an aggression to the game he is probably not used to. I think some of the things he has not been used to and he is getting there, like I said, seriously, with where we are and where we are based and the types of money that we are we don't have too many foreign players.
But, when they come they can't be expected just to drop in and just go as if nothing has happened. They are in a different country, different surroundings, don't know many people. He didn't even understand the language when he first came, he was OK English but not brilliant, now he is fluent. If in six months he is still where he is I think he will be upset because he wants to play like any other player. But, he will be OK, it is just like I said, he is finding himself in a new country at the moment.