MCCARTHY UP AND RUNNING
Posted on: Wed 26 Aug 2009
Midfielder ready to compete for place in team after United debut
Fans were able to catch a quick glimpse of summer signing James McCarthy on Saturday against Manchester United, and the midfielder explained that although he wasn't entirely satisfied with his performance, it was certainly enjoyable to make his Latics debut.
It was certainly a baptism of fire for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international coming toe-to-toe with the likes of Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney et all, and he's hoping to learn from such an experience.
"It was great to get on the park against Man Utd, but personally I don't feel my performance was great, I don't think my match sharpness was quite there," said McCarthy. "But once I get that back I can hopefully look forward to featuring a lot more."
"The gaffer told me before-hand to get on, get hold of the ball and do what I could to create some chances playing on the left-side. I wasn't too happy with my performance but it was good to make my debut in the Premier League and I enjoyed it.
"They're all world-class players which this league is full of. It's great to be put on the same park as the likes of (Dimitar) Berbatov, (Nemanja) Vidic and the rest of them and that was a great experience.
"I like playing in the hole behind the striker, that's my preferred position. It's where I played when I was at Hamilton and I was happy in that role. Hopefully I'll get more chances to do it here and I'll be working hard to make sure I take them."
There was slight concern over McCarthy's fitness having suffered from a thigh-strain shortly after joining the club, but through hard-work and patience he's glad to be getting back in contention for a place in the team, looking forward to Wednesday's Carling Cup clash at Blackpool.
He said: "I had a bit of a thigh strain from the first week I came in so that needed strapping up. But I've got three to four weeks of training behind me now so it feels as though it's getting a lot better now.
"I've managed to come through all the training feeling good and with no fresh worries so that's a positive. I'm just concentrating on match sharpness now and hopefully I can get that over the coming weeks.
"Blackpool away is going to be a big test for us, but it's one we're all looking forward to. It'll be good to get the weekend result out of our system and hopefully get things back on track."
Fans were able to catch a quick glimpse of summer signing James McCarthy on Saturday against Manchester United, and the midfielder explained that although he wasn't entirely satisfied with his performance, it was certainly enjoyable to make his Latics debut.
It was certainly a baptism of fire for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international coming toe-to-toe with the likes of Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney et all, and he's hoping to learn from such an experience.
"It was great to get on the park against Man Utd, but personally I don't feel my performance was great, I don't think my match sharpness was quite there," said McCarthy. "But once I get that back I can hopefully look forward to featuring a lot more."
"The gaffer told me before-hand to get on, get hold of the ball and do what I could to create some chances playing on the left-side. I wasn't too happy with my performance but it was good to make my debut in the Premier League and I enjoyed it.
"They're all world-class players which this league is full of. It's great to be put on the same park as the likes of (Dimitar) Berbatov, (Nemanja) Vidic and the rest of them and that was a great experience.
"I like playing in the hole behind the striker, that's my preferred position. It's where I played when I was at Hamilton and I was happy in that role. Hopefully I'll get more chances to do it here and I'll be working hard to make sure I take them."
There was slight concern over McCarthy's fitness having suffered from a thigh-strain shortly after joining the club, but through hard-work and patience he's glad to be getting back in contention for a place in the team, looking forward to Wednesday's Carling Cup clash at Blackpool.
He said: "I had a bit of a thigh strain from the first week I came in so that needed strapping up. But I've got three to four weeks of training behind me now so it feels as though it's getting a lot better now.
"I've managed to come through all the training feeling good and with no fresh worries so that's a positive. I'm just concentrating on match sharpness now and hopefully I can get that over the coming weeks.
"Blackpool away is going to be a big test for us, but it's one we're all looking forward to. It'll be good to get the weekend result out of our system and hopefully get things back on track."
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