Published at 13:55, Friday, 14 September 2012

LOAN striker Jake Jervis hopes his time at Paolo Di Canio’s finishing school will help him defeat his old boss tomorrow – and make up for his glaring miss at Hartlepool United.

Back on track: Jervis, who is keen to earn himself a longer stay at Carlisle, is watched by Hartlepool’s Sam Collins

The towering Birmingham City kid played under Swindon’s flamboyant Italian manager while on a two-month loan spell in Wiltshire last season.

Di Canio has been criticised for his brash style of management and autocratic regime, but Jervis believes the experience of playing under the former Serie A and Premier League star was a priceless part of his development as a player, and he hopes to prove it when Carlisle United host Swindon tomorrow.

The 20-year-old revealed he is keen to earn himself a longer stay at Carlisle as his loan deal finishes after next Saturday’s trip to Coventry City, and is also desperate to make up for his staggering miss in the second half against Hartlepool which left him a disconsolate figure on the pitch.

“I played 14 games in two months for Swindon and it was my first experience of playing regularly and scoring goals,” said Jervis.

“It really brought me on and I enjoyed the experience. I settled in quickly and the manager really helped me.

“He is a great coach who knows what he’s doing and does a lot of work with the strikers and helps you a lot.

“He tells you straight and he does have his moments where people could say he is a bit over-the-top but that’s just the way he is.

“I learned a lot about movement and getting into the box where you score the goals.”

Jervis hopes he won’t pay the price for his miss in last weekend’s 2-1 win at Hartlepool after he was replaced by Mark Beck, who helped to turn the game.

The 6ft 3in youngster, who also missed in the penalty shoot-out defeat to Preston in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, is keen to extend his loan deal so he can continue gaining first team experience.

“I would definitely like to stay if I’m going to play regularly and help the team out,” he said.

“I don’t think I played well in the last game but hopefully I can get back on track and get some goals.

“What happened at Hartlepool is out of my mind now. I had the penalty and then that in the same week so it’s the first big knock-back that could have hit my confidence. But the gaffer has been great and I’ve been working hard in training.”

Di Canio guided Swindon to promotion last season with 93 points and took them to Wembley in the JP Trophy but their promising start to the new campaign has been wrecked by three straight defeats.

The former West Ham, Lazio and Juventus star has also clashed with his own players – he substituted young goalkeeper Wes Foderingham after just 21 minutes – and publicly lambasted them for defeats to Preston, Oxford and Leyton Orient.

It has left Di Canio facing the biggest challenge of his managerial career and there is certain to be plenty of attention paid to the Swindon technical area tomorrow in anticipation of their maverick manager hitting the headlines again.

Jervis believes his former manager will prove himself a master motivator and Carlisle won’t be reading anything into their opponents’ recent bad run.

“He’s going to be right on them on Saturday and I expect them to come straight out of the blocks,” he said.

“Unless you’re playing a team at their place when the crowd are on their backs, you can’t read anything into their recent run.

“We’re the ones who are under pressure as we’re the home team.”

“Swindon are good at getting the ball down and passing. They like to get teams chasing after the ball and they have good strikers who can finish you off.”

Former teenage Everton winger Femi Orenuga yesterday joined Carlisle on a week’s trial following his release by the Premier League side at the end of last season.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk