AFC Fylde star Stephen Crainey admits he is loving life in the National League North with the Coasters.
The former Scotland international joined the club a month ago and made an immediate impact as Fylde won back-to-back games within his first week at the club.
The 34-year-old has plied his trade at the very top of the English game in the Premier League with local rivals Blackpool and insists he has no intention of hanging up his boots any time soon.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far,” said the former Southampton and Fleetwood left-back. “The lads have welcomed me straight into the squad and I’m really delighted to be part of the club.
“We had two very good victories in my first couple of games, but unfortunately the last two have been defeats. Hopefully we can get back on track on Saturday against Chorley.
“It’s been tough. I’m not going to lie and say it’s been easy to drop down the divisions, but I feel like I have settled in well and am adjusting to it all the time. I just hope I can play my part in the team and the club moving forward.
“Teams are right in your face at the level and you don’t get much time to play football. It’s very physical and you need to win the battle first but I suppose that’s what it’s like at any level that I’ve played at.
“Considering I’ve not had a pre-season I’m quite pleased with how I’ve done so far personally. If you miss a pre-season it always takes a little while to get going, but once I’m fully up to speed I’m sure I can give a good contribution to the cause.
“I feel fit and I want to play as long as I possibly can and as long as the manager still wants me here. I don’t want to put a timescale on it because I’m still really enjoying training and playing matches.”
Monday’s defeat against Curzon Ashton saw the Coasters slip to fifth in the league standings and Crainey is keen for his teammates to bounce back as they prepare for the first match of the new year.
“It’s hard to pinpoint what has gone wrong over the last couple of games because I know for a fact that when the lads go into a game they want to come away with the three points.
“It’s certainly not through a lack of effort or determination to win the game. Sometimes things don’t go for you in football and it’s how you react to it.
“I thought for the first 50 minutes or so against Curzon Ashton we played really well, but unfortunately we had a bad 10 minute spell and we couldn’t recover from it.
“The dressing room was downbeat and quiet on Monday night, but we know we need to put it behind us now. Obviously we need to look at what went wrong, but there’s no point dwelling on it.
“The good thing is that there’s always a game around the corner to try and rectify the mistakes.
“The boys will be up for the visit of Chorley, as they are with any game. It gives it a bit of extra spice considering it’s a local derby and it’s always nice to beat your rivals so hopefully we can do that.
“I just like to take it game by game. We simply want to put as many points on the board as we can. Whilst we have lost the last two games, when you look at the table we are still in with a very good chance, so that’s a big positive for me.”