Last updated at 12:13, Tuesday, 04 August 2009

For most sufferers, a diagnosis of swine flu is their cue to bolt themselves indoors, reach for the medication and feel thoroughly miserable for a week or so.

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For Graham Kavanagh, who contracted the disease last month, it was a source of great relief.

“After three or four days of pre-season, I started feeling really tired,” explains the Carlisle United player-coach.

“At that point, I thought, ‘This is the way it must feel when your legs start to go’. So I was delighted when it just turned out to be swine flu!”

A frustrating seven days away from the training ground – and then a niggling shoulder injury – do not appear to have set Kavanagh back as he prepares for another age-defying season in United’s midfield.

On Saturday, in an advanced role just off the main striker, the 35-year-old was the best player on the pitch in Carlisle’s final pre-season friendly at Bradford.

The enthusiasm with which he speaks of the impending campaign – and Greg Abbott’s new job for him, at the heart of United’s attack – might just be as infectious as the virus which briefly interrupted his pre-season preparations.

“When I was younger at Middlesbrough, Lennie Lawrence played me up front and in the hole quite a bit,” he says.

“I understand the role and what is required.

“It’s up to me to play off the main striker, try to get in that pocket as much as I can to link the play between the midfield and the strikers, to get the ball wide, get in the box and try to get goals.

“In the summer I was on the ‘A’ Licence course with Gianfranco Zola, who along with Dennis Bergkamp is probably the best hole player we have seen.

“He actually played in one of the sessions and when you see the intelligence people like that have, it rubs off.

“It was amazing how much defensive work he did, by the way.

“He’s somebody you can learn from.

“Sometimes in the past we have been guilty of putting the ball forward a bit too quickly.

“If we are going to play with the wide men we have, we’ve got to get the ball down and link the play.

“We have got the quality, it is just about having the bravery to do it. At times on Saturday I thought it worked really well.”

One encouraging factor in Carlisle’s 3-3 draw in Yorkshire was their ruthlessness in enemy territory, something which Kavanagh – who scored their first goal with trademark style – says must be a feature of their play more often this season.

“One criticism of the way we play is that, in our enthusiasm to do so well, sometimes we don’t use our heads enough,” he says.

“When we try to penetrate opposition teams we need to do it clinically. We are a high-tempo team – I don’t think there are many players and teams in this league who can play at a slow tempo.

“The players have really grasped onto that. The tempo in training has been lifted hugely, we hope to start the season well and confidence can lift from there.”

That confidence needs lifting in the first place is one of the givens of United’s new campaign, after their previous term of struggle. And that they begin 2009/10 with a match at Brunton Park – where last season their form was so indifferent – is significant in the eyes of their player-coach. “For me, a big thing this season is the home form,” Kavanagh says. “We’ve got to make Carlisle a fortress.

“It’s not a nice place to come with the distance that opposition fans have to travel, and we’ve got to make it even less nice because of the way we perform.

“Let’s try and make it an intimidating place.

“The lads have applied themselves really well over pre-season. Conceding three goals at Bradford was disappointing and we need to be collectively better, and not hold disappointments for as long as we do.

“But there have been some decent performances and confidence should be pretty high. We are all starting on zero points, we’re not looking up at anybody, we’re not chasing anybody.

“The objective for the season has to be to get to 50 points as soon as we can, then we will reassess and re-evaluate. The squad isn’t the biggest and we are going to rely on the same players week after week. The ones who didn’t play on Saturday are still going to have a massive role over the season. The unity and togetherness is going to pull us through.

“Last season you could see that confidence in certain players was low. In pre-season, you see completely different characters because that pressure is off. Hopefully we can start this weekend with a big crowd, and the fans behind us like the last game of last season.

“That atmosphere that day was amazing. And it really helps you, gives you a buzz as a player.”

Already there is the unavoidable feeling that United’s success or failure this season will depend heavily on Kavanagh’s ability to keep holding off the years, and continue bringing his qualities back to the table on a consistent basis.

It’s encouraging, then, to hear him explain that slowing down remains for other people. Most of the time. “The manager has said to me that, with my age, I have to get as much rest as I can, to let the body recover,” says Kavanagh.

“I think I’m going to listen for a change this time.” And you’re not quite sure whether to believe him.

First published at 11:31, Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk