Last updated at 14:52, Thursday, 30 July 2009

A friendly defeat to Blackpool won’t figure highly once the real business of Carlisle United’s season is underway. But don’t presume it held no meaning for Richard Keogh.

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For the centre-half, there was the happy feeling of breaking his goalscoring duck at Brunton Park, before the Championship side eventually asserted their superiority.

More notable, perhaps, was the sustained defensive performance from Keogh which earned him a few verbal garlands from his manager and saw his approval rating leap another level on the terraces.

With each wholehearted challenge, every pummelling header, the former Bristol City man is achieving genuine popularity among supporters who may not necessarily have warmed to his rudimentary style of play at first sight.

Now, the feeling is that no player will take a bullet for the team more readily than Keogh. Little warms the hearts of paying fans more.

“It’s always nice when fans appreciate what you do for their team,” he says.

“I’m there to do a job, and if they can relate to the way I play, that’s great.

“Every time I play, I hope they can see I give 110 per cent for the shirt.

“That’s my character, that’s what I’m all about. And as long as I’m picked, that’s what I’ll give.”

Saturday’s final friendly at Bradford will give Keogh – if he gets the nod from Greg Abbott – one last chance to pin down a place in the starting line-up for the big kick-off against Brentford a week later.

The contest for a centre-half place is fierce – Keogh, Danny Livesey and Peter Murphy appear to be scrapping for two berths – and Keogh attributes his place at the centre of Abbott’s thoughts to a more settled professional and personal environment.

“Last season, I didn’t really have a pre-season so this time it’s been quite enjoyable,” says the man who joined the Blues under John Ward in August last year. “It’s exactly what I needed.

“It’s nice to be settled instead of wondering where you are going to go out on loan next.

“I’m happy in Carlisle, my girlfriend has been here for a year, and overall I think you play your best football when you’re settled.

“I’ve come back pretty much in the best shape of my whole career. I’ve worked hard over the summer and in pre-season on my fitness, and hopefully people are seeing the benefits now.

“As long as I’m putting my case forward to the manager, and I’m in his thoughts, I will be happy.”

Keogh says it was “a nice feeling” to head his maiden Brunton Park goal against Blackpool – and, more significantly, he reports that it was the fruit of some careful training ground work.

“The manager got us together and asked the lads what we prefer in terms of corners,” he says.

“We have usually tended to swing them in, but some of us prefer outswingers with the way we attack the ball. So we worked on that in training and it came off. Hopefully there are a few more to come.

“Overall, we’ve got to be quite pleased with how it’s gone pre-season.

“I know it’s a results industry and a couple of results have been disappointing, but apart from the Middlesbrough game, our performances have been pretty good. Our fitness levels have been really high, which shows the work the lads have been doing.

“Yes, it’s disappointing to concede goals as we did the other night, but there is a lot of chopping and changing in pre-season to give everyone pitch time.

“On Saturday, the manager will be working towards the team he wants for the start of the season and I’m sure we will spend more time working on our shape leading up to the Bradford game.”

Pressed on the absorbing tussle with Murphy, Livesey (and teenager Tom Aldred) for a place in Abbott’s XI for Brentford, Keogh steers away from talk of rivalry in the camp.

“I’m not getting caught up in any of the talk about competition,” he says. “I’m just trying to do my best and push for selection, and hopefully the manager will pick me.

“I’m concentrating on myself, and if I’m 100 per cent right in games, putting my case forward and getting picked, that’s what it’s all about.

“The Bradford game will be a real test for us. Their history speaks for itself and although they’ve had a tough couple of years recently, they have got a fantastic manager [Stuart McCall] and most of their squad have played at a higher level.

“It’s a perfect game for us to set our stall out.”

Equally crucial to the defensive unit this season will be Lenny Pidgeley, the new goalkeeper who has performed capably in his early appearances for United.

Keogh is a long-standing friend of the former Chelsea man and advises supporters to expect good things from Ben Williams’ replacement between the posts.

“His ex-girlfriend is from Bristol and knows my girlfriend, so I got to know him a while ago through that,” Keogh says.

“It always helps when you know someone when you come to a new club, and hopefully I’ve helped him settle in here, as have all the lads.

“Lenny has been working his socks off in training and has looked good in the games so far. I think he’s a fantastic goalkeeper.

“You don’t get to Chelsea without having good potential and ability.

“He will be the first to say that eventually you have to realise that potential.

“He started off well at Millwall, then a change of manager saw him not playing much football. I’ve just said to him to get his head down, work hard at his game and enjoy playing some football.

“He is still young with his best years ahead of him. If he finds some form, who’s to say where it could lead for him?”

First published at 11:30, Thursday, 30 July 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk