Alex McQueen has spoken of his desire to repay Carlisle United and their fans after admitting he listened to "wrong advice" during the summer.

The right-back, who rejoined the club yesterday on a short-term deal, says he has learned lessons from the time he spent away from Brunton Park.

McQueen recently returned to the Blues on trial after a summer when boss Keith Curle often spoke of his frustration at a lack of contact from the 21-year-old.

The Blues manager eventually dropped his interest in re-signing the former Spurs man - only to offer him a fresh chance weeks later.

Speaking for the first time about the saga, McQueen insisted he never "turned his back" on United but regretted how the situation had been handled.

He also said he could understand the opinions of some fans who criticised him.

"I've taken a lot of advice over the summer, which it's fair to say was wrong advice," he said.

"Once I sorted out that issue, I spoke to the gaffer personally towards the end of the summer, came up here and it was always better that way - just us two. And as you can see it got sorted much quicker than the summer.

"I owe a lot to the manager. But I wouldn't say I turned my back on Carlisle. I never said anything about the club, saying I wanted to do this or that. I've always loved the club.

"It was more of what I was being told to do. I've never said I wanted to go back home - I came up here in the first place after all.

"It was just that I was told this and told that, and whether it was true or not...

"It just got dragged out a bit. It's not really a nice situation for me to be in. I can understand what the fans have been saying. But hopefully on the pitch I can repay them.

"The fans have been good with me, around the town, since I've been back. They haven't really had anything negative to say about me and I'm never afraid to talk to them."

McQueen did not say who in particular had given him bad advice but added: "I probably won't be taking advice from them [any more].

"It's definitely a lesson learned and hopefully we can move on."

After leaving Brunton Park last summer McQueen made a trial appearance for Ipswich, while Curle suggested there had been Premier League interest in the right-back, who made 26 appearances for United last term.

Yet when deals elsewhere failed to materialise, the defender admitted his spell without a club had been difficult.

He said: "It's hard - all you want to do is play football and every day [I was] losing my head, wondering what am I gonna do now? I was delighted when the gaffer said to come back up and we'll go from there.

"At one stage my dad actually said - and I don't know if he was joking - 'You're gonna have to get a job soon'. I looked at him through the corner of my eye and just left the room. I didn't really want to talk about that. In my eyes I never want to do that while I can play football. Right now I don't want to do anything else.

"I'm here to prove that to everyone, repay everyone who had faith in me in bringing me back and supporting me from the sidelines."

Curle believes both McQueen and fellow new boy Kevin Wright can add pace to United's squad, while McQueen admits it will be a challenge to force his way into the promotion-chasing team.

"When I first came up I had to work really hard, because obviously the boys have been training since pre-season and they're all fit," he said.

"The new signings are brilliant players so the level's getting higher and higher. I just have to show everyone I can cope with that.

"It will be hard to get into the team - top of the league, doing well, playing brilliantly - but I'm just excited.

"A month's not a long time but we have five games in that time, if I can get a chance and impress. It's an opportunity and I'm thankful to get the month.

"Fitness wise I've been working hard with Lee Fearn - he's had me doing a lot on Saturdays before the matches.

"I'm very happy to come back, very excited for the new challenges and hopefully getting promoted.

"It's been a learning curve. I think I've matured from last season to this, and on top of the summer as well."