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" I travelled down last night, stayed overnight and had my first training session today, so it was a bit of a strange feeling obviously, I'm missing the lads up there but I've settled in well. Ever since I came to Carlisle, from the start, obviously Fred (Story) and Simmo (Paul Simpson) knew my intentions, and I did want to play at the highest level, i.e. the Championship or the Premiership if anybody showed interest.
" That opportunity came up this week out of the blue, obviously there has been a lot of speculation and rumours but you don't know how many of them are true yourself. People don't believe you when you say you are the last one to find out but that's the way it's been.
" I wasn't playing football, and it was Chris Lumsdon that gave me the phone call to get me up to Carlisle, and I've enjoyed every single minute of it. I loved all of last season, I think the fans knew that by the way I was smiling all the time, even when I was putting shots over the bar, it was just a great time for me. The lads obviously had two years of that, I was just pleased that I played a part in their second promotion because there are a lot of good lads there, they are a great bunch and they are all winners, and that's what shows.
" I can understand why the fans might be disappointed, obviously they didn't know what was said when I first signed for the club – that I wanted to move on if anything did come. With me only having until January until I could leave on a free transfer anyway I think the club have had to what is best for them as well. Obviously they held on as long as they could until late last night which kept me sweating, because they wanted the best deal for Carlisle United so they can bring in either new players to strengthen the squad in January or to spend the money on the stadium.
" The best thing that we did this season was to spend money on the pitch because I think that has made a hell of a difference to the football that we have played compared to last season. I'd just like to say on a personal note – thanks to all the fans who made me feel so welcome from day one, I hope you understand my decision and if they are disappointed then I do apologise for that. Also a big thanks to the club itself and all the lads that are part of the team there, because they are going to fly this season because they have been absolutely outstanding. "