Lewis Alessandra: Scars of past relegations give me the fire to help Carlisle Utd avoid the same fate

The forward, set to face Forest Green tonight (New Lawn, 7.45pm), also says he will give his all for the Blues despite accepting some fans were “underwhelmed” by his signing.

Alessandra was named man-of-the-match on his debut against Walsall having joined from fellow strugglers Morecambe.

The 30-year-old has suffered the drop with previous clubs such as Hartlepool and Notts County and says it is an experience he is desperate to avoid again.

He said: “It’s from the EFL as well and that’s such a big thing.

“Some teams can flutter between League One and Two and it’s not as sudden because you’re still in the leagues and not dropping into non-league.

“It’s a horrible feeling and it ruins your summer. That’s why it gives me that fire to do everything I can to bring everyone along with me to say, ‘This isn’t happening, no way’.”

He added: “When it happened with Hartlepool and then with Notts County it was mad. At Notts we were favourites to win the league so it was so frustrating when it happened.

“There was a few changes of manager and stuff like that but I felt like I was doing really well through the first half of the season.

“I picked up a knee injury and I was out for eight weeks and when I came back I just wasn’t quite the same. I needed another pre-season if I’m being honest.

“I didn’t play many games and I felt helpless as I watched it all from the sidelines. The whole situation was really hard to take and it’s a terrible feeling to go through.

“You feel like you’ve let everyone down so I’ll be working doubly as hard and getting the boys as up for it as I can so that we can move away from it quickly.

“Hopefully we can then enjoy the last maybe 10 or 12 games of the season because we’ll have enough on the board to be safe.”

United can increase their seven-point gap above League Two’s bottom place with a win at the New Lawn tonight.

It is the fourth meeting of the season between the Blues and Mark Cooper’s side, United yet to lose to the ninth-placed Gloucestershire outfit after two draws in league and FA Cup, and a cup replay win.

Alessandra joined their survival fight after the sale of Hallam Hope to Swindon and the experienced frontman says his man-of-the-match display was the start of his bid to prove his worth to the fourth-bottom Cumbrians.

He said: “I’m not daft, I know I was probably a bit of an underwhelming signing, and you see a bit of reaction [on social media] and stuff like that, but I’m 30 and I understand football.

“This is a big club, so to play well and get that award from the sponsors was nice. It’s just the first step on the road of coming in and helping Carlisle to hopefully play even better every week.

“Let’s face it, if I had been poor [on Saturday] then those who felt I was an underwhelming signing would have gone away feeling they were right to think that.

“You want to prove yourself wherever you go. I’m coming from a team below us in the table and with no disrespect to Morecambe, Carlisle is probably a bigger club, so I want to play well here.”

Alessandra, who worked under United boss Chris Beech at Rochdale in 2015/16, said he learned of the Blues’ interest in the middle of last week.

He was finally confirmed as a Blues player on Friday after turning down the chance to extend his short-term deal with Morecambe, which expired on Thursday.

The move reunites him with some familiar faces, including ex-Notts team-mates Adam Collin and Nathan Thomas, and former Plymouth colleague Gethin Jones.

Alessandra said: “I think I was pushed to give an answer purely because players were going in and out, and this is the way football works.

“You’re not going to leave yourself light in letting a good player go so it all happened during week.

“It was strange because, in the summer, I signed a six-month deal with Morecambe purely because of finances there, with the scope to make it go for a season.

“I started doing well, I scored goals, and then it was sort of coming to the end and things just changed. It’s just football – managers change, things change, opinions change, but that’s ok, it’s how football is.

“It happened quickly. Knowing people [at the club] does help because it means you’re not walking in blind. Everybody has been really welcoming and the fact is you’ve just got to get on with it.

“It’s a game of footy and I’ve played 400-odd of them now professionally, and I’m happy that I’m here for this new challenge.

“I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for Morecambe, I want them to do well, but it is what it is. I feel happy with the move here.”

Alessandra has signed with United until the end of the season and the ex-Oldham man says that is all the incentive he needs to impress, both for the club and his own future in the game.

Asked if he would like to stay at Brunton Park for longer, he said: “I’d love to, yes.

“As frustrating as it is I can kind of understand the way the gaffer has gone for me signing a four-month deal.

“He’s told me to get out there and prove myself because if I don’t I’ll be in the same situation again in the summer.

“I don’t think it matters either way because I’d work my butt off regardless. I can imagine at my age – not that I’m old – but obviously at 30 you’re not going to get these long-term deals the young prospects are getting.

“I’m not sure I’ll have any sell-on value anymore, I’m being honest about that situation, so it’s up to me to work hard.”

Alessandra was pleased to start his United career with a hard-earned win against the Saddlers, ahead of an away double-header starting at the New Lawn tonight and continuing at Mansfield on Saturday.

He said: “The win is the most important thing and I don’t think there was a lot of quality in the game.

“My performance, even though people are saying I did ok, was purely based on hard work and endeavour instead of quality, but it was just one of those scrappy League Two games.

“I hadn’t played in over a month and to be honest I was feeling it in the last five minutes or so. It just didn’t feel like I was on the ball that much and I can’t remember a point where I took more than two or three touches, and I’m the kind of player who likes to be involved more than that.

“Hopefully that side of it will come. I was thinking that it was going to open up a bit for me when people started to get tired, but it just didn’t happen.

“We scored two good goals but we conceded at such a poor time in the second half. It was a professional performance in the latter half of the second half to see it out.

“When you’re in this situation I think you’d take a scrappy win and the three points instead of playing pretty stuff and being nice to watch only to draw or lose.

“We did deserve the win and it was probably down to the hard work of all the lads that we got it.

“If we have a good week we can extend that even further and hopefully that’ll be the case come next Saturday.”

Alessandra has faced United a number of times during his career and is happy now to be playing for the club.

He said: “I’m really impressed. I’ve been here a number of times over the years, they always get a good following and it’s similar to when I was at Plymouth.

“It’s so far away from everywhere else that you can’t just potter off…I’m from Manchester and you can go and watch Manchester City or someone, but you can’t do that here.

“There’s more of a feel of, ‘I’m from this town’, so you get the numbers. I knew that coming in, it is a good club and I’ve always thought that.”

Alessandra says he can be versatile in attacking positions and has also played in central midfield. He added: “I’m just a forward thinking player but I do prefer to be central on the pitch. That’s when you can drop in and help the midfield if they need it, or you can get around the striker as he puts himself about.

“I enjoy the running side of it and it’s good to be inside the pocket where you can get the ball.”

He said he is happy to be working under Beech again.

Alessandra said: “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I’ve worked for him before when he was the number two [at Rochdale] and he’s a good bloke and a good footballing brain.

“I think he just says it how it is, even if that isn’t what you want to hear sometimes. Some people might struggle with that but it’s how it should be.

“When we had the conversation about the move he said that he’d love me to come here and having worked with him before I was immediately buzzing about it.”

Alessandra says United must now target a good return from their two away trips in order to give their campaign a further boost.

He said: “Sometimes Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday can be perfect. If you go and get maximum points from the next two it makes it nine in seven days and a perfect week.

“Suddenly you find that you’ve jumped right up [the table] and the mindset is completely different. Hopefully that’ll be the case.

“Forest Green and Mansfield will be tough, there’s no doubt. I’ve played Forest Green and I thought they were one of the best teams we’d faced; I can’t put my finger on why, but they’re a very effective team. They’re up where they are for a reason.”