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PT
Obviously, you don't want there to be a lot of kids here, but in a good way it is relatively quiet. A lot of babies and a few a little bit older but it is great to come down for us lads and dish a few gifts out and try to put a smile on a few faces.
JP
There are a few very young ones here, which is heartbreaking to see isn't it, but there are a couple of real Carlisle fans as well, it is great to see what you all mean to them?
PT
Yeah, it is good, they get a bit of a shock when they see you and for a couple of minutes they don't really know what to do with themselves. But, once you have a good chat with them they start to come around, and it is something they can look back on in future years. Obviously, you want to meet people under different circumstances, you don't want people not to be feeling well. But, I think if people aren't feeling well it is a nice pick me up if you like for us to come in.
JP
How many times have you done this then over your career? You must be like a seasoned professional at it?
PT
Yeah, I am getting old now, so about 12 or 13 years or something like that, that is the case maybe, as long as I have been a professional. So, I think as you get older though it becomes easier, I think when you come in as a young lad you are kind of struggling and you don't really know what to say. But, I think the more you do it the more at ease you become with it and it is just a nice thing to do. To see kids smiling when they are maybe not feeling so good is a great sight.
JP
Is it one of the things that perhaps you look forward to during the year doing this sort of thing? You seem to be enjoying it and in the right way?
PT
Yeah, definitely, I think we all are, I think sometimes if you haven't done it before then you come and you don't know what to expect and you don't really know what to say. But, I think once you have a met a couple of kids and you speak to the parents and you see are happy they are as well if you are speaking to their kids, it is great.
JP
There are a few Carlisle fans here as I have said, a few of them would like a few points over Christmas, how are the players all feeling about that?
PT
Yeah, good, I mean we were obviously disappointed with the result from the weekend, but I think if you could have offered us the season we have had up to now at the start then I think we would all be very happy with it. I think the games that we haven't produced in, which haven't been many this year, we have generally bounced back pretty much straight away, so that is what we will be hoping to do at Yeovil at the weekend.
JP
Just a nice short trip down there as well just to make it easy for you?
PT
Yeah, we get used to them, you have got to clock two hours up before you get anywhere for us, so why not add another four on the end as well. So, it will be OK, hopefully it will be on as well because I am not sure if there is another cold snap coming or not. But, none of us really want games postponed, especially at this time when there is so many. But, hopefully it will be on and we just want to go down there and get back to doing what we do best, and we will give them a good game.
JP
One question that I am sure the fans are probably thinking about you in particular is were you really injured? Because, you were away for quite a while and then you have come back and it was like you have just slipped straight back in without any need to build up anything, you were just right back to it?
PT
Yeah, well I think you do, I think the first couple of games you come back and probably the old adrenaline word kicks in. So, you don't want to say too much too soon but I am feeling alright, I am feeling alright, I am feeling fine. Hopefully, hopefully, over the Christmas period I can be feeling even better with a few positive results.
JP
What sort of player are you like when you are injured? Are you the one that is kicking everything on the sideline frustratedly?
PT
Yeah, in the nicest possible way you don't want to be there because you don't want to watch it, you don't want to watch people do what you want to be out there doing. But, you have got to be there to get behind the lads and I was for whatever it was, ten or eleven weeks, and we hung in there and did really well over the period. We just want to maintain the standards that we have shown for 99% of the season and just crack on again.
JP
And just finally, one thing some fans have said is the question mark about whether the club or the players are quite as up for the so called lesser games as the big games. A trip to Yeovil, they are another struggler in the division, how do the players get ready for that one then at the weekend?
PT
The same as we do every other, I am not going to stand here and tell you any different because the gaffer (Greg Abbot), Kav (Graham Kavanagh), Den (Dennis Booth), drilled it into us all last week about not being complacent just because Dagenham were sitting in the bottom four and obviously I don't think their away form was great.
But, they have shown, I think English football on the whole this season, everybody is beating everybody from the Premier League down to the Conference. So, it just shows that if on any given day you don't, I wouldn't say don't fancy it, or you don't do things right early then you are going to find it difficult like we did on Saturday. But, you can't fault the lads for effort and we will be out there again trying to get a positive result on Saturday.