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" We said that the next five or six games are really big games for us and we started with Southend, so I think a lot of people were looking beyond that at Leeds and Nottingham Forest which I understand. From our point of view though we were playing the second in the league away from home and that it is a massive game for us.
" So we've gone down there and been very strong, very resolute, defended well, were organised as a team and then have been able to find a winning goal out of it as well. So it really is a big result and that takes you into the next few games which everyone else seemed to be looking ahead at so it's a nice prospect coming forward.
" Zigor (Arnalde) is fine, he trained on Monday, everybody else is fit and well and you tend not to get too many injuries when you are in this top position and you have got Leeds at home on the Saturday. I don't mean that nastily but everyone is fit and well and you can imagine the mood around the football club is very high at the moment.
" We musn't get carried away with it, it is a super position to be in, someone told me that it is the highest they have been for 30 years. That in itself just shows you how difficult it is to get where we are. The problem there, if that is a problem, is trying to stay there, we're there to be knocked off, as Leyton Orient were, as Leeds might be at some stage as the way they are going this season. "
" We've got a team though in Leeds on Saturday who are coming unbeaten and we are the next ones in line to try to alter that one if we can. Can we stop them not losing, or winning or drawing games and pushing on in this league? Because without their 15 point penalty they would be high and dry at the top of this division. So we must understand that and respect that, that we are probably not the best form team in the league at the moment. Although rules give us the chance to sit at the top at the moment.
" It's five games for me now and I'm really pleased with it, I've had five here now and we've had four wins so I've got to be delighted with that. The response of everybody has been really good to me coming in, as I say, I have not come in throwing things all over the place. We've settled everything down, the backroom of Greg (Abbott) and Dennis (Booth) and everybody.
" The players are now very settled in terms of what is going on here, I am here for the duration as long as possible so let's get on with it. That's really what I've said and we seem to be OK, I think the results show that people are comfortable being in a settled position now.
" What you'll see happen a number of times on the sidelines will be discussions and ideas. "What do you think of this? What do you think of that? Do you think we should move him there? Would you put a substitute on?" It might be something like that, those discussions will go on and I certainly want Greg to throw them at me. "
" I don't stand here purporting to think that I know everything about it, or spot everything, you can get too close to it sometimes. So you need other people to throw ideas at you and Greg and Dennis certainly do that with me. Ultimately I will make the decision myself and they will support it but I want opinions and views all the time, so you'll see that happening throughout.
" I've seen the travelling support here and it is excellent, for them to get themselves down to Roots Hall on that Saturday afternoon, such as that distance is from Carlisle. I'm sure they made a weekend of it and they'll have thoroughly enjoyed that.
" These are the form team, you look at the league table and say that it is Carlisle but it's not, it's Leeds United. They are the form team from the start to this moment in time because they have not lost a match. So if you need a challenge or you need to test yourselves against the best then that is what we have got. They will quite rightly think that we are in their position at the top of the league, I'm sure that Dennis Wise will use that as a big motivation for his team if he needs to.
" So everybody is going to be really up for the game, it will be a full house as near as we can get one at Brunton Park for the first time in a long time. There will be good competition both on and off the pitch and I'm sure that our supporters will rise to the occasion and lift their game as well as I hope my team will. I've come across Dennis (Wise) during the game. Dennis never played at the same level as me so we've not met too often. "
" It's a special month, we've got all these games and a TV game against Nottingham Forest towards the end of it. So there is a huge amount of things can happen here, we can establish ourselves or we can drift away a little bit and we don't want to do that obviously. So we've got to be strong and make sure that if amongst all of those games we have one reverse result we make sure that it doesn't last too long and that we get back on and win the game.
" It's massive though, two cup ties in different cup competitions, big games in the division, it's what people like myself and the players want to be football in for. You want big games and you want testing all the time. If anybody is apprehensive about it in my dressing-room then they are in the wrong place, they should be looking really excited with it and saying that this is what they want to be doing.
" Someone asked me the other day what our local derby was and I couldn't quite figure it out. Certainly Brighton isn't, so it doesn't get much further away than them at the end of the month. More people at this club are used to it than I am though, it's something that I've got to get used to is all these long journeys, but that'll be alright.
" I don't do point targets, I've never really sat and done that, I stick by what I said a little while ago that if we are still in the top six by the end of November or early December then we'll have done very well. I stand by that really, I think that is the thing, if you say that you still want to be top that is fine but if you are fourth or fifth then you can get disappointed thinking that you have failed on things.
" I don't want to put that in anybody's mind, we finished eighth last year, the club did extremely well, people are looking to try to improve on that which is not easy but we keep doing that. We can't do anything about that at the moment in terms of finishing position but we can pick up some points against some good teams and that will stand us in good stead if we can manage to do that. To be in this top six at the end of November is an achievement in itself. "