Richard Keogh On Today's Victory

Last updated : 23 November 2008 By Thetashkentterror

Richard Keogh
United centre-half Richard Keogh spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey after Carlisle's 1-0 home win over Cheltenham, Keogh pleased that the back five kept a clean sheet at last :


" As a defender when you go out on the pitch you don't like conceding goals and your main objective is that you want to keep as many clean sheets as we can. We have all had a chat together and I think that you know how much it means to us when we are all celebrating together there and making sure that we are all switched on. We are a firm believer at this club that if we can keep clean sheets then we have got enough firepower in our team to get a lot of goals and hopefully top up the wins.

" Cheltenham came here with a gameplan and had a positive result in the week against Oldham. Martin Allen has come in, he has got a great spirit about the team now, I was there on loan there last year so I know a few lads. The squad has changed a lot but he is getting the lads worked up, we knew that it was going to be a tough game as they work hard.

" In the first-half our quality in the final third maybe let us down in that respect. I thought that in the second-half though we could have had two or three. With a little bit more luck and maybe a little bit more quality we could have wrapped the game up. When it is 1-0 though there is always that opportunity that something might drop for them in the box, but overall it is a great win and momentum keeps going really.

" In the first-half I put myself in a position, I didn't get a shout from the lads around me so I didn't know what was around me. As a defender naturally you don't want to leave things if you don't get a shout. So at the end of the day I just thought that I would get enough on this header and luckily for me I have headed it quite well. So even though in the crowd it might have been hearts in mouths a little bit, but from where I was standing I thought that I had got enough on the header not to make it go in.

" It is one of those things, maybe when we were in that bad spell that might have dropped in and looped over the keeper. At the moment though it is going well, and I have just headed it and it has hit the bar and we have cleared it. So I just thought that I would play a little one-two with the crossbar just to keep everyone on the edge of their seats, that is the way that it is at the moment though and I am pleased with the performance. "



" Looking at the game today I fancied myself to maybe get on the goalscoring sheet. It is something that I want to try to add to my game. I feel that if you can defend crosses and stuff going into your box then you should be able to be a threat going forward. So I am trying to add that to my game and today I nearly got on the end of a couple of decent balls from Kavs (Graham Kavanagh).

" The one in the second-half fell me to around the back-stick and I have just chested it down and I have just absolutely leathered it. I thought that it was in but the keeper (Scott Brown) has made a fantastic save. It was not meant to be today but if I keep getting up there then hopefully it will come soon.

" Obviously John Ward brought me to the club and I would like to thank him for that. He stuck by me and when he was here he put me in the team. Then through my own fault really I got sent off and missed three games, that is punishment for me, I missed the three games but the lads didn't pick up the positive results.

" I just kept working hard in training though and didn't mind and just got on with it. I worked hard for my place back and Greg (Abbott) gave me that chance and hopefully I am going to take it. It is good to be somewhere where I am playing and hopefully I can improve my game and I feel like I am doing that.

" Millwall have done fantastic so far this season and The Den is a place that not many people will go this season and get something. We are full of confidence in the dressing-room though and we just want to keep our momentum going. We are going to go there to Millwall and we are going to give it everything that we have got again like we have done in the last few games.

" I think that the crowd can see that everyone is working their socks off and everyone has come off the pitch breathing and giving everything you know for the club. We are going to go to The Den full of confidence, we are going to give it everything that we have got with confidence and hopefully pick up a positive result."