Brad Potts heads back to Carlisle United today with what he freely admits are mixed emotions. The Blackpool midfielder is looking forward to seeing "old faces" at the club where he made his first professional name, but is unsure how his reappearance on Cumbrian turf will go down.

This trepidation is felt because Potts was booed by many of United's travelling fans when the Blues drew at Bloomfield Road last September. The 22-year-old says that was a difficult experience and, if a hamstring injury allows him to play this afternoon, he is now conscious of how Carlisle's home supporters will treat him.

"It's going to be strange," says Potts, who spent two years on United's youth books and made 118 first-team appearances, scoring 10 goals, before joining Pool in the summer of 2015. "I've thought about it a lot. I'm excited to go back, because I met some great people at Carlisle, some good friends. But after what happened down here, I don't think people will be giving me a good reception."

As Potts was jeered whilst playing well in that 2-2 draw, the noise was even more stark, coming from a packed away end whilst the other sides of the ground were sparsely-filled; a result of Blackpool fans' protest against the Oyston regime.

"I wasn't really sure what to expect," he reflects. "Having been through the youth system [at Carlisle] and done three years as a pro, I gave everything I could in the time I was there. I went on to make the club a little bit of money as well - it's not as if I just left and they didn't get anything. So it was frustrating, I'm not gonna lie, to hear them booing us and giving us a bit of stick.

"It wasn't just a bit of banter either, was it? It was like they didn't actually like us. But I made sure after the game that I went over and clapped the Carlisle fans, just so they know I do respect them and I've got no hard feelings."

Potts wonders if it was the circumstances of his departure, when he persistently refused to sign a new contract before joining Blackpool, that upset the United faithful. He claims negotiations were never satisfactory in that time at Brunton Park, yet the fact he continued playing with a broken foot during the Blues' 2014/15 survival battle should answer questions about his commitment.

"I wasn't training all week, just getting injections for a matchday," he says. "It's not as if I was trying to hide. I wanted to play. I was giving everything.

"Obviously the fans don't really see what goes on in the background. They don't know what contracts you're getting offered, either. They just see that, if I'm not signing my new deal, I don't want to be there. I did want to be there. I just wasn't getting offered what I felt I deserved."

Potts insists this was a question of value, not loyalty. "Even though I feel some fans think I wanted to leave all along, I made it clear I wanted to stay. But I knew what some of the other lads were on and I felt like, because I came through the youth system, they were trying to get us on the cheap."

This allegation, he stresses, is not extended to Keith Curle, who took charge at Carlisle early that season and found a regular place in midfield for Potts. "It was tough times, in a relegation battle, but I've got nothing but praise for Keith Curle," Potts says. "He was brilliant for me, the way he let me play, the way he dealt with me. I feel he improved my game. I benefited a lot from him being my manager."

Potts says Gary Bowyer, his Blackpool boss ("an honest guy") affords him similar licence to impose his attacking qualities on games. This season he has scored eight goals and, before the recent injury that has held him back in 2017, was being linked with moves to the Championship. Carlisle would have benefited from a sell-on clause had Potts left last month but no transfer materialised. "There's been a few sniffs here and there, but until there's been a bid made or accepted, I'm a Blackpool player and I'll give my all for the team," he says.

Potts, from Hexham, was always among the highest-rated of a crop of players produced at United by the former youth coach Eric Kinder and his staff. Blackpool's recent trajectory means he now finds himself 11 places below the club he left two summers ago yet, as one of their better assets, has the time and potential to push on again.

His memories of United will, though, forever be valued. "Things like making my debut, scoring my first goal...they will always stay with me. Even just the little things, like turning up for training, being in Carlisle, walking out at Brunton - it was a pleasure to do and I really did enjoy it.

"I still keep in touch with a lot of the lads I came through with - Dav [Symington], [Patrick] Broughy, Kyle Dempsey, [Mark] Becky. I speak to Mark Gillespie all the time too. He's been onto us already, asking if I'm going to be fit. He'd never hear the end of it if I scored against him!

"I still speak to Eric, too. We played Blackburn in the cup recently and I saw him then. He's always wanting to go out for food but he wants me to pay all the time. That's the only problem..."

He goes on: "It's good to speak about old times. I do miss it, I'm not gonna lie. But I've just got to get on with where I am now, and focus on that."

Potts, who won an England Under-19 cap whilst at United, was unable to take a handful of good chances to score against his old club last September. Other than wielding bragging rights against keeper Gillespie, he is "not sure" how he would react if he ever does find the net against the Blues, but says he will "always be respectful" to his first employer.

"Even if I don't play [today], it will be good to see the likes of Dolly [physio Neil Dalton], Col [kitman Colin Nixon], the coaching staff, the people who worked in the background," he adds. "They are great people and they make the club what it is."

Blackpool cannot be a picnic in comparison, with supporters deserting Bloomfield Road because of their principled objection to the Oystons. How is it to play in front of so many empty orange seats?

It is not an easy question for an employee of the club to be expected to answer. Potts says: "It's...different. You want to be playing in front of as many fans as possible and you want your supporters to be getting behind you as much as possible. I do feel that the ones coming to the home games are getting behind the lads. As a team, we know we've just got to forget about what's happening off the pitch and focus on what we can affect on the pitch."

As a player Potts is more experienced than when he left United, and noticeably bigger physically. On his bulkier physique he says: "If you want to play at the highest level, you've got to give yourself the best chance. Doing things like going in the gym and working on your body and strength is only going to help you. I feel like it's benefiting me. I do feel strong."

Blackpool's play-off hopes will be remote unless they can quickly end a six-game winless run, but Potts himself is ambitious. "I want to play as high as possible. I've just been working hard this season to give myself the best opportunity to do that."

His contract up in the summer, Potts' future will intrigue, while the possibility of Carlisle moving an entire division ahead would be an interesting turn of events just two years after he left for supposedly higher things.

Another, slightly older ex-Blues prospect, Tom Aldred, also returns in tangerine today, but for Potts it will be the first time - sort of. "I actually came back for three Carlisle games last season," he says. "There was Hartlepool at home, Everton in the FA Cup, and Liverpool. I was in the away end at Anfield. They played really well."

Did anyone spot the former shining star of United's academy when he slipped into the crowd and watched his old colleagues? "Only a couple did," he says. "They noticed us and asked how I was doing. But that was all, really."