Reaction To The Win From Richard Keogh

Last updated : 14 February 2010 By Thetashkentterror

Richard Keogh
United right-back Richard Keogh (RK) spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's James Phillips (JP) after Carlisle's thumping 5-0 League One win at home to MK Dons, Keogh suggesting that the Blues have been threatening such a big win for a while :



JP

What is like to be involved in a game like that?

RK

Obviously it is a fantastic result and I think it is one we have been threatening for a while. It is nice to finish a great week for the club off in style. The confidence is pretty good at the moment and we have got another game on Tuesday, the games are coming pretty fast and quick but the lads are pretty fit. I thought our workrate and our quality today was fantastic.

JP

The last thing I want to do is put words in your mouth and have you say something that comes back to haunt you, but if you can do this how far can this team go?

RK

I don't know, at the end of the day we are confident at the moment and everybody is working hard for each other. I think it showed out there today that when we scored all the goals that the whole team went to each other, it shows that the whole team is playing for each other.

The workrate is fantastic, if someone made a tackle then we were wanting to win the second balls and stuff. I know it is a cliché but we are taking one game at a time and we are confident, so hopefully we can keep moving up the league and who knows?





JP

What does it say about you and your team-mates that with that enormous carrot dangling in front of you of Wembley at the end of March that you have kept your composure going into a game like this and handled it in the way it needed to be handled and then some?

RK

Obviously it was a fantastic night on Tuesday, it is something that doesn't happen very often and it is a massive carrot. But the bread and butter is the league and we have got that game out of the way now and have Wembley to look forward to.

But it is not any time soon so we have got to get our heads down and win the games in the league and look forward to that game when it comes closer. I think it will sink in a bit more when it does come a bit closer but for the time-being the league is what we want and we have got to keep going.

JP

A few two goal leads have slipped away from you in recent weeks, how much of a relief was it when you scored the third goal? Was it just a weight off your shoulders?

RK

A little bit, not really, every time you do concede a lead then you learn from those mistakes and I thought we did that today. I think before we have been pushing for the third goal when we have let the lead slip but I think we did it better today.

We didn't sit back but we didn't go gung-ho either, so when the third goal did go in it was a big relief and I think on another day we could have had seven or eight to be honest. But it was nice to get the five and it is three points.





JP

And you typified at the end why the fans love you, you threw yourself in front of a shot on goal from Luke Chadwick, absolutely threw yourself in at 5-0 in injury time. Does that say just how important it is to keep a clean sheet as a defender?

RK

Yeah, I think so, that is all we love doing really, we don't want one against our name because it looks bad on us even though it was 5-1. But we won 5-0 and if a shot is there then the whole back four will put our bodies on the line.

It was me this time and I am happy to do that, and as long as I keep the goals out of the net then I will do anything to try to save it, legally of course. It was a good block but it was a great victory for us and I thought we thoroughly deserved it.

JP

Are you a closet right-back because you can't surely of never played there? You have always been in at centre-back it would seem but in the few games you have played for your former clubs at right-back you just seem to have slipped into that so effortlessly.


RK

I am really enjoying it to be honest and I feel like I have added a little bit to the team, going forward maybe with a bit of my energy and stuff and a little bit of quality. I am just enjoying it, I am really enjoying it to be honest and when you are confident yourself and the team is playing well then it seems to go hand in hand.

I am really enjoying it, it is another string to my bow and the more positions I can play in and feel comfortable in then it is obviously better for me. But the manager (Greg Abbott) asked me to do a job there a while ago and it seems to fit with me at the moment and I am just really enjoying it.

JP

And Kevan Hurst is the player who sits directly in front of you, how easy does he make it for you as a right-back having a player like that there?

RK

Definitely, me and Kev get on really well off the pitch, we have got a great relationship off it and we seem to take that onto the pitch. It seems to work really well with us, Kev likes to stay inside a lot, he has got great ability on the ball and he likes to come inside and link with the front man.

He likes to get that ball in early so when he does come inside it gives me the licence to get forward and it seems to be working really well. Obviously the more we play together the more we understand each other. Today it was great and we are working really well together and I think their left side know that they have been in a game.





JP

Back into the top half of the table now, just beaten a side who are pushing for the play-offs, and I am sure still will be after this result, and you are up against another big side in Huddersfield on Tuesday. How important is it to continue the progression?

RK

Yeah, definitely, MK Dons are a good team, they are not pushing for promotion and the play-offs for no reason. But I thought we were streets ahead of them today and that is the way football goes. Obviously Huddersfield are a fantastic team, they have spent a lot of money, Lee Clark has got his team now, he has gone there and he has had his first real proper season with his players and has got them playing his type of way.

But I thought we deserved our point against them the other week and on another day maybe we could have won it. So we know what type of game it is going to be but we are at home and hopefully we will take the game to them and get another positive result.

JP

And it is purely unrelated to the footballing world almost, just so you don't get into trouble with your boss for this one, but how excited are you down deep at having a chance to perform for your club at Wembley?

RK

I think everyone who plays professional football dreams of playing at Wembley, obviously everyone dreams of the FA Cup at Wembley but Wembley is Wembley. But to be part of a fantastic stadium and it is something you can tell your kids and grandkids about that you have played at Wembley. On the night really it was just so emotionally draining and mentally it didn't really sink in at the time.

Obviously it was so exciting but personally it was just like a blur. It is not until afterwards where everything calms down that you actually realise what a massive achievement you have actually done this season. I think closer to the time it will kick in and I think a few of the nerves will get going but what a game to be involved in. It is something you dream about so I am really looking forward to it.





JP

The gate being a bit down from Tuesday night has been a talking point today, I don't want to say disappointing, but how important are those fans to you as players when you are out there on the pitch?

RK

I think they are absolutely vital, the atmosphere on Tuesday was electric before the game. It is just a great buzz and it is a massive lift when you put a team under a bit of pressure and you get a couple of corners in a row and the crowd are all singing. It makes you want to run that extra yard or track back your man and make a big tackle or make a big header.

It is a massive thing but obviously I understand with the fans that things are a bit tight. Everyone has not got a lot of money and if they are forking out for games Saturday and Tuesday, because we have got a lot of games coming up, then it is understandable.

But fair play to the fans today, they made it a great atmosphere on Tuesday because it was a big game for them and they were fantastic again today and I can only say thanks for that. Hopefully the result today, people will look at that and think that maybe they will come down again on Tuesday and see what happens.

But that is not in our hands, we thank every fan that comes and it does mean a lot to us. As long as they keep doing what they are doing then we will try to give them as much as we can.