After waiting patiently, he now has a taste for it again

Chris Birchall was a little surprised to be recalled into the starting eleven against Carlisle United at the weekend but says it is now up to him to keep the shirt.

It was his first start for a while, but he has waited patiently and now hopes to continue where he left off on Saturday with his fingers crossed he is in the side tomorrow night against Leyton Orient.

He said: “It came as a bit of a surprise but I am happy to be in the side. I knew I had to take my chance because the team has been chopping and changing a lot lately.

“You don’t get many chances when you get into the team and you lose, so I am happy with the second half performance and glad we got three points.

“We changed it a bit for the first half, then unfortunately we went a goal down from a set-piece, so we then went straight back to the way it started.

“I think we caused them more problems with Jenno on the left and me on the right and the gaffer asked us to get crosses in and cause the full backs problems and try and push them back and try not to let them get forward.

“I think we did it in the second half and we got a number of crosses in and should have seen out the game a bit more comfortably.

“I has been tough being out of the side, but the one thing with the gaffer is you know you are always going to get your chance.

“he will throw you in from nowhere when you feel like you are not part of it and you are not coming on as a sub, and sometimes it is the other way around, you start and then you are not even in the squad.

“it is tough to take sometimes, but when you get your chance you have got to take it and I am just glad that we got the win.”