Mark Convery joined United last summer after being released by York City, and the playmaking midfielder has recently returned to regular action after a frustrating series of injuries.

The Newcastle-born midfielder was signed by Sunderland at the age of 14 and stayed until he was 20, but found first team opportunities limited.

"When I first went there full-time we were in the Championship then got promoted to the Premier League for three or four seasons so there were a lot of signings," he recalls, "but they were good times and I enjoyed it."

Most of the players Mark came through the youth and reserves with are still in professional football, the best known probably West Ham's George McCartney, but like many of them he found it hard to break into the Sunderland side at the time.

"I'd been involved in the first team squad a few times and I'd come on as sub in some cup games, but the following season they were signing more players and I felt as though I was going backward. I spoke to Peter Reid about my options and then Darlington, Reading and Cardiff came in for me."

Deciding to stay close to his roots, Mark signed for Darlington in January 2001 and made 76 League appearances (half of those from the bench), scoring twice before joining York City in 2005, where he made 68 appearances and scored nine goals for the Minstermen in two seasons.

"I played under about four managers at Darlington and we just seemed to finish in the same position each season so I think they'd got to the stage where they just wanted a whole new group of players," Mark explains.

"It was probably the right time for me to move on and I had a good time at York after that. Ideally I'd wanted to stay in the league but the two clubs that wanted to sign me would have meant moving away, so to stay at home I dropped down a league to join York and it worked out fairly well."

Last season (2006/07) he managed 25 outings and two goals for York despite four months on the sidelines with a fractured foot, but he was surprisingly released at the end of the season along with seven other members of the squad that finished fourth but missed out in the play-offs.

"I think it was a big surprise to everybody because we hadn't been out of the top four all season and we'd made the play-offs but just fell that little bit short," Mark comments.

"No one could really understand it, unless my foot injury had something to do with it, but I played quite a lot of games towards the end of the season. But every manager has the final say and he decided he wanted to change things."

Despite the fact that York had delayed the announcement about releasing the players, several clubs were interested in signing Mark and Cambridge United were his choice as he signed a two year deal on 1st July 2007.

"There were about ten other offers but as soon as I heard that this club was interested I came down to speak to the manager and about a week later I'd agreed to sign."

Explaining why he chose Cambridge United, Mark says, "This has always been a league club, and meeting the manager and the assistant manager and hearing the manager's plans and the players he wanted to bring in and the way he likes to play the game, they were all factors.

"Obviously, with my height, it doesn't make any sense to go to a club that likes to just play the long ball, so all in all it was a pretty easy decision."

Despite moving away from his native North East for the first time, the 26-year-old has settled in well and is glad he chose Cambridge United: "Right from the start of pre-season training it's been great with this group of lads.

"It hasn't felt like I've had to fit in at all; I've just felt like part of the club and the people around the club are good to work with and make you feel welcome, so it's all gone smoothly and I couldn't really wish for things to be better.

"I'm sharing accommodation with Stephen Reed and Scott Rendell, so although I'm close with the other players it's good to be around players all the time and I'm really enjoying it."

Like many of last summer's signings, Mark found the pre-season Army camp a bit of a culture shock but he feels it fulfilled its purpose: "It was a big eye-opener for everyone at the start but we all got our heads down and the manager told us what he wanted from us and the reasons why we were there, and we all took it on board and worked really hard.

"I think that showed in the start we've had to the season and it obviously had some sort of positive effect on us."

Mark was a fixture in the opening games before a niggling hamstring strain sidelined him for some weeks, but he was delighted to be part of United's best start to the season for many years.

"We had that sort of run where it feels like everything goes for you. The only difference in this last month is that a lot of the games have been cup games. The FA Cup is a great thing to be in but we're never really going to win it so the defeat in that wasn't too bad to take.

"The FA Trophy is a competition I think we all wanted to do well in, but you get setbacks during the season and - like the manager says - we've all got to stick together, and with the team spirit we have I'm sure we will."

Mark admits that his first goal for Cambridge United, the opener in the 2-1 win at Stevenage in September, is one highlight of the season so far: "Especially with the number of fans we took there (1,556), it was a great day and everything went for us that day as well, so it was a great day for everybody.

"And it was good to get off and running with a goal for my new club. I've been a bit disappointed with my lack of getting forward in games and it's something I'm trying to put right so hopefully I'll score a few more goals by the end of the season."

Mark went close to scoring in the first half at Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month, a game he enjoyed greatly: "It was a great day and I think that sort of game suited me better because the pitch was decent to play on, but I should have scored in that one as well and the manager let me know about it!

"I know I can definitely score goals and it's just something I need to add to my game at this club."

Several of the players have revealed that they set goalscoring targets for themselves at the beginning of the season, but Mark's is slightly different.

"I always set myself the target of playing in every single game because if you do that you're obviously doing something right. Goals-wise I don't really set a number but I know roughly what I should be getting from midfield if the Gaffer wants me getting forward, and I need to chip in with setting goals up too."

Mark's season has been interrupted by injury but he feels he is now stronger and is relishing the challenge of the latter stages of the season.

"It seemed like every time I was getting back to fitness I was getting an injury that was putting me back a month or so, but hopefully I can stay fit and play as many games as possible to the end of the season, and personally and as a team everybody can carry on the same way as the season started.

"We've worked hard on the hamstring and I have my own strengthening exercises to do every day now, which is a little bit time consuming, but if it saves me sitting out for a month then I'll be doing it every day and up to now everything's been spot on."

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, starting with today's game at home to Altrincham, Mark believes four successive home games gives the U's a good chance of rediscovering their previous form.

"I think we have to look to take maximum points out of all four games - I don't see any reason why we can't do that," he states. "If we do, it puts us right back in it because there are a lot of other sides who haven't had a sticky patch, and over the course of the season I would imagine everybody will suffer that sooner or later.

"The good thing for us is that our sticky patch has been mainly in the cup games, and although the cups are lovely to play in, the league is our priority this season."

He adds, "We can't get carried away. We've lost a few games recently but three of them were in the cup games, and when we lost at Kidderminster in the league I thought we didn't deserve to lose so it's not as bad as it might look at first."

Having played under several managers at various clubs, who has made a lasting impression?

"When I was younger and just learning my trade I think it helped being at a Premier League club because the standards are so high there. You had to maintain those standards every day and I think that's stood me in good stead at every other club I've been to, so I think if you start well and listen to everything you're told you can take that on to every club you play for after that.

"Obviously different managers have got different ways but I wouldn't criticise any of the managers I've had. I think in different ways they've all helped me and I think you just take little bits from everywhere; you can never learn enough in this game."

Likewise, having played at the highest level, who are the best players Mark has played alongside, and against?

"I played against Steven Gerrard in the reserves at Sunderland, and even back then you just couldn't get near him in the game, and obviously he's gone on to become the player he is now, which isn't a surprise having seen what he was like in those games.

"The best player I've played with is Lee Clark at Sunderland. I'm a Newcastle fan and when I was younger that's who I always used to look up to and try to model myself on him, so when he signed for Sunderland from Newcastle it was great for me."

We also asked Mark some questions from supporters on the club message board at cambridgeunited.com, starting with one from John who asks: "Who should we look out for in the future?"

Mark: "The obvious one at the moment is Robbie Willmott. He's on the fringes of the first team and I think with a little bit more experience and time around the squad he could break into the first team in the next year or so and do really well for the club."

Jamie asks: "Who's the fastest runner in the squad?"

Mark: "I'd say Rob Wolleaston."

Jamie also asks: "Who's the loudest player, and who wears the worst gear?"

Mark: "The loudest player, without any doubt, is Stephen Reed. And the worst gear? There are a few but I think I'll say Mark Peters."

Chris asks: "How do you find living in the south compared to the north?"

Mark: "People told me it was a lot warmer down here but I haven't seen much proof of that yet! I think that's just a myth. It's a lot more expensive too, but apart from that I find everything about the same."

Chris also asks: "In a deathmatch between Gavin Hoyte, Leo Fortune-West and Danny Brown, who would win?"

Mark: "I think Gavin Hoyte would win by the size of him."

Fred asks: "Who would win the crossbar challenge?"

Mark: "We do things like that in training sometimes and I don't think anybody's actually ever done it yet so we'd still be waiting to see who would win that."

Dave asks: "Do you think it's right that a tinpot cup competition should take precedence over the league fixtures?"

Mark: "I don't think it really matters. All the games have got to be played so whatever people prefer it's still got to be played and I don't think that makes much difference."

Will asks: "Do you think you play better in an environment where you get more time on the ball, i.e. at Wolves, where I think you played your best football of the season?"

Mark: "I think that's just common sense; if you get more time on the ball you should do better, and those type of games would probably suit my type of play more than some of the games in this league, to be honest."

Finally, Simon asks: "You were part of the Darlington team that flirted with promotion to the old second division in 04/05 - could the current Cambridge United squad under Jimmy Quinn achieve similar success?"

Mark: "Yes, I think so. We had a similar sort of squad; it wasn't too big because there were money problems at that club but a lot of things there were very similar. We even played the same formation and both managers liked to play the same way.

"We didn't have any 'superstars', it was a team effort rather than one player taking all the headlines, so there are a lot of similarities between that team and here."

Closing with his hopes for the rest of the season, the affable Geordie says, "Personally and for the team I think we've all got to set our sights on the play-offs at least, and from a personal point of view I just hope to stay fit and play in as many games as possible and get on the scoresheet a few times along the way."

Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk

*An shorter version of this interview was originally published in the programme for the match against Altrincham on Saturday 26th January, 2008

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