Five days from now and it will have been a year since Mark Gillespie woke in the house next to Brunton Park and saw that Warwick Road had become a river. A year since Carlisle United's goalkeeper, in one of the more surreal happenings of the Storm Desmond floods, had to climb out of an upper floor window in order to drop into a rescue boat.

It was the FA Cup that weekend, too, when Gillespie was at home with the flu whilst his team-mates won their second-round tie at Welling, before returning to a submerged and devastated city.

This Saturday, United are back in the old competition when Rochdale visit Cumbria. Gillespie is free from virus and part of a team that has a great chance of delivering some glory to Carlisle, so soon after those awful times.

The approaching anniversary of last December's deluge was never likely to bypass Carlisle's longest-serving player. "I was saying to Macca [Macaulay Gillesphey] on the drive in the other day that it's a year to the week," he says. "It's an experience I'll never forget."

The restoration of Brunton Park has come steadily, but there are now many noticeable results around and inside the ground. While many people's homes may not be quite so far along the path of recovery, Gillespie believes the football club's impressive recent progress has wider significance.

"It's testament to the club that we've managed to build from [the floods] - and it sums up the reaction of the whole county and city," he says.

"If you walk into Brunton Park now, the offices look brilliant, the gym's state-of-the-art. So the club has used it as a positive. That's what I think a lot of the county did - they came together, helped each other out, and created a 'We'll get through it' sort of feeling'.

"For the only professional team in the county to sit top of the league, a year on from that...it shows what the place is all about."

Last year, whilst themselves sharing in that great community resilience, United were also looked upon as a temporary diversion from hard times. In order for this to be realised they somehow had to keep winning, in spite of their own difficulties.

In the cup, Gillespie saved a crucial shoot-out penalty at Yeovil to help earn a feel-good fourth round tie with Everton. That sort of prize may be on offer if Rochdale, fifth in League One, can be overcome on Saturday.

The epic night at Huish Park is easily remembered by the keeper. "Those are the moments you want to give back to the club that's helped you," Gillespie says. "That night [at Yeovil] was massive, for what it did for the club. Just like it's a big game on Saturday."

The Rochdale clash will be Gillespie's 151st Carlisle appearance, the 24-year-old having reached the 150 milestone in the 5-2 win against Mansfield that took Keith Curle's team to the top of their division. "I was happy when I got to 100 - that was my target when I got into the team as a young lad," he says. "I suppose 50s are the next targets. So it was nice to reach that on another positive result."

Curle has this season praised the former Newcastle United prospect and suggested he is being scouted by higher clubs. If Gillespie is starting to maximise his promise, it feels a long time since his Carlisle debut, when he came off the bench at Norwich in the final game of the 2009/10 season, aged 18.

This remains the one appearance statistic in brackets beside his 149 starts. "That little 'one' will always bring that memory back," he smiles. "It's fair to say, when I got thrown on then, I wasn't really a footballer. I was just a youth team player with potential.

"It was five minutes, but a little reward for the two years I'd put in with the youth team. And there was a pathway at the club. That's what I was told when I joined at 16 - when you come to a club like Carlisle, from Newcastle, there's a clear pathway to the first team if you put in the work.

"Keiren Westwood was the goalkeeper at the time. He came from Man City and had done the same thing. That was the motivation for me to come. And to say I've played 150 games now makes me feel proud. To get some real success would be the next step."

That outing at Carrow Road also sticks in Gillespie's mind as the Blues try to break clear themselves, six years on. "Norwich were celebrating the title that day," he says. "So, since my first game in professional football, I've always had that feeling - I wonder what that's like?"

On the 150-game path there have been further memorable times, Gillespie nominating cup displays against Liverpool and Spurs, and league showings at Burton and Portsmouth, among his personal highlights. The chance of another cup afternoon or night to remember will not, then, be passed up lightly. "Every single player is going to be motivated to get into that third round, because, as we've seen, who knows where it can take you?," he says.

"It's got all the makings of a good game this weekend. Rochdale are doing well in the league, but we showed when we beat Port Vale in the League Cup that we more than matched them and deserved the win. That was one of our best performances and we'll look to replicate it."

The d-word - distraction - is swatted when Gillespie considers United's priorities. "It's the FA Cup," he says. "We've all grown up watching it. To be a part of it is always a privilege. When it comes down to 3pm on Saturday we'll be doing everything we can to win the game. We know it helps the club financially, as well."

Rochdale will know that United are unbeaten at home and buoyant after last weekend. "Walking off the pitch, when the fans are singing, 'We are top of the league' - it's fantastic," Gillespie says. "You've got to take it in. But at the same time, nothing is done yet. There's a long way to go and that's the key; not getting too high when it's going well, and not too low when it hasn't been going your way."

An ever-present in everything except the Checkatrade Trophy this season, Gillespie also made 50 welcome appearances last term as he finally conquered a long-standing groin problem. Those difficulties in past campaigns tested his "mental strength" but he praises his managers, coaches and United's hierarchy for believing in him through harder times.

Could they now, though, face a fight to keep him? Curle's recent compliments have made this possibility clear. Has Gillespie dwelt upon them? "You've just got to focus on the game," he says. "I'm pretty good at that, just taking everything out of it and focusing on the football.

"It's nice to hear positive things said about you in public, or in private, but it's a long season and there can be ups and downs. I'll just work as hard as I can."

Curle recently hinted at preliminary contract talks with a player whose deal is up in the summer. Have things progressed further? "Not at the moment - it's very early stages," Gillespie says.

"It's nice they've made it clear they want to do something, and I'll listen to the club when that comes. But I just want to focus on the football. We're doing well at the moment, and that's only going to help everyone involved."

He says it with feeling - as well he might, given all he has encountered this far with the Blues. "I'm very settled, and I love coming in every day and playing for this club," he says.

"If we were to go up this season it would be a fantastic feeling for me and my family, who have come and watched the games since I've played in the youth team.

"We've all got an affinity with the club."