Jermaine Beckford |
" I've still got a smile on my face so I'm still happy, everybody has made me feel welcome, comfortable and relaxed so you can't ask for more than that really. I was expecting there to be a few more bits and pieces around but there is loads of greenery and loads of scenery, it's different and it's a nice change and a pleasant change. The club that I came from are in the Ryman Premier Division*, which is five leagues below Carlisle and six below Leeds United so it's some jump as well.
" I'm getting used to new clubs now but it's all good. Within a nine-month spell when I was 16 I was scouted by Chelsea and they asked me to come down for a couple of games, I went down and played a few games and did well and they told me to stay down for a little bit. I was there at the same time as Carlton Cole, I got a small injury to my achilles which threw a spanner in the works and messed up my chances at Chelsea but if that hadn't happened and I'd stayed there then who knows what could have happened. I could have got a worse injury and my career could have been over, I believe that everything happens for a reason though, if it hadn't happened then I wouldn't be where I am right now, and I'm happy now.
" My Mum and Dad say to me that I'm not a superstar, which is true, I'm a normal person and this is what I do for a job, I'm one of the lucky ones whose hobby happens to be his job, and they let me know that it is only a job. They don't let me know that there are so many people out on the streets watching on TV and coming to the stadium, they say to me to just blank it out and pretend that it is an empty stadium. They say that you are there to impress yourself and you don't really need much more motivation than that.
" I don't know much about Carlisle, they are doing quite well in League One and it's a really nice place to be, other than that I don't know about anything. They are good players though, yesterday it was raining a little bit and not everybody was up to their best standards, including myself – I thought I was quite poor actually, but from what I've seen so far nobody has disappointed me. Everybody has impressed me so we can only wait until the weekend and see what happens in the game, but I'm quietly confident.
" I've got a little bit of pace, a few tricks, I'm decent in the air, good on the floor, I can hold the ball up and I'm quite strong so we'll just wait and see what different situations happen in the game and we'll see what I can do. Everybody is different, I try and be my own player and my own person, I don't try to do the same thing every time, I try and be spontaneous to try and catch defenders out. I'll leave that a surprise for the crowd though.
" Millwall are an intimidating side but I'm difficult to intimidate so I'm not worried about them, I don't worry about any defenders or midfielders, or attackers or goalkeepers that I come up against. Everybody is just players and we're all here to do the same job, my job though is to beat them and make them look silly, we'll see what happens but I think we'll win. I'm going to try and score tomorrow, it would be my first professional goal as well so we'll see what happens, I've got my fingers crossed. "
* Wealdstone now play at the same level in the Southern Premier Division due to league restructuring.