Lee McEvilly was one of five new additions to the squad in January, and although the powerful striker has already netted twice in his first four games he promises there is more to come from him.

The Liverpool-born 25-year-old started his career at Burscough, where he progressed from the youth team to the first team and caught the eye of Cambridge United's then manager John Beck.

Indeed he was set to become a U's player and was offered a trial and a contract, but arrived in Cambridge on the day Beck resigned in November 2001 and the offer was withdrawn.

However it was only a matter of weeks before his goal scoring exploits earned him a move into league football and a £20,000 move to Rochdale followed on Boxing Day 2001.

He stayed there for two-and-a-half seasons, scoring 27 times in 95 appearances and earning a Northern Ireland cap as a result of his good form, but, as often happens, a change in manager saw a change in fortunes and after slipping down the pecking order under new boss Steve Parkin he moved on.

Lee had enjoyed a successful loan spell in the Conference with Accrington Stanley near the end of the 2003/04 season and in the summer he joined them on a free transfer. He added a further 17 goals in 41 appearances in the 2004/05 season before returning to the Football League with Wrexham.

He spent two seasons at the Racecourse Ground, netting 14 times in 51 appearances for the Red Dragons, but his time there was badly interrupted by a foot injury.

He suffered a broken metatarsal in December 2005, fractured the bone again when making his comeback in the Spring of 2006, and then suffered another fracture in the pre-season of 2006-2007 and was sidelined until November 2006.

"I broke my foot on three occasions, the same metatarsal bone each time, and I was out for 16 months," he recalls. "It was a really frustrating and difficult time for me and I put a lot of weight on that I've struggled to get rid of.

"I got fit again and I put my shift in to help save the club from relegation last season, but a new manager came in and he just didn't fancy me."

Lee had a year left on his contract but left Wrexham by mutual consent last summer and rejoined Accrington Stanley, now a Football League club, but it has been a fruitless second spell so far.

With first team opportunities limited to just three starts and eight sub appearances, he went on loan in November and December to another former club, Rochdale, where he netted three times in three starts and four sub appearances, including the only goal in a 1-0 win against former club Wrexham.

"I wanted to play so I went on loan to Rochdale, and when I went back to Accrington after the New Year they told me Cambridge wanted me," he says.

Jimmy Quinn had learned of Lee's availability from Paul Carden, who was already on loan at the Abbey from Accrington Stanley, and he moved quickly to bring the burly striker to Cambridge.

"When I heard that Cambridge were interested, I thought at first it was a bit far away because I've never lived that far from home and I've just had a little boy," admits the Scouser, "but I was rotting up there not playing games, so I thought 'why not go down there, get myself fit, get playing games and scoring goals and see what happens?'

"It's working out well because I'm training with Accrington at the start of the week then travelling down to Cambridge on the Wednesday night, training down here with the boys on Thursday and Friday and playing Saturday. This week I'll probably stay down because we've got a game on Tuesday as well and I'm enjoying my football here."

Apart from Carden, Lee knew none of the players here but says they have made him welcome since he arrived: "Football is like that - you can always blend in if you're a talkative lad and it hasn't been a problem. The lads have looked after me."

Scoring twice in his first four games has helped him settle in but he promises that there is more to come when he is fully fit: "To be fair, I've always scored goals wherever I've been, but this time I've played four games in ten days, which I haven't done for a long, long time - over a year.

"It's good to get the games in - although it was good to have the chance for a rest and recharge the batteries last weekend! - and I'm really looking forward to the game against Stevenage and taking it from there.

"They're all big games from now; we've got 18 games to get promoted or into the play-offs and we've still got a job to do, and it starts today."

With a good crowd expected at the Abbey today for a game that has a touch of 'local derby' atmosphere to it, Lee speaks highly of the support he has experienced so far.

"I think the fans are great; they've taken to me and I've taken to them and it's another reason why I've been enjoying it here. I think fans take to me because they like my style of play - I don't give defenders a minute's rest.

"I've always been a striker," he adds, "although some managers have thought I'm a wide left or a wide right or a centre half and they've played me in some dodgy positions, but I've always been a striker and scored goals."

The 25-year-old is also pleased with his fledgling partnership with United's leading scorer Scott Rendell, saying, "A few clubs have been sniffing round Scott and he's a decent player, he's good to play with. It's early yet and I don't know what his best attributes are yet, but it takes time to gel and that will get better with games.

"He's a bit like me, always moving and pulling the defenders around, which is my game. Once I get myself properly fit there's plenty more to come from me because I'm not 100% yet."

Lee earned a Northern Ireland cap in 2002 when he was with Rochdale, but does not know whether he will be selected again and regards his league career as his main priority.

"I was playing well and they check through your family tree when your name begins with 'Mc', to see if you're an Irish 'Mc' or a Scottish one. I was a Scottish one but I qualified for Northern Ireland through my grandparents so I got 14 under-21 caps and a full cap against Spain.

"I've got an under-23 cap since then, but playing for Northern Ireland again is at the back of my mind at the moment. All I want to do is play Saturday and Tuesday for Cambridge and score as many goals as I can, and see if we get in the play-offs, which I think we will, or even get the automatic place."

Lee is also looking forward to working under Jimmy Quinn, a former top striker and Northern Ireland international, from now to the end of the season and hoping to add to his game.

"It's been a bit difficult so far with the weather and so many games, but I'm sure there will be time for him to pull me to one side and give me some advice," he says.

Moving onto some 'bests' in his career so far, Lee comments, "I think the best manager I've played under so far is John Hollins; he was the manager who brought me into professional football at Rochdale and he probably got the best out of me. I was on the top of my game then.

"The best player I've played with is probably Clive Platt at Rochdale, and the best player I've played against is Raul for Spain."

Having made a firm impression in his first four games, thoughts are already turning to whether Lee might make his loan into a permanent move at the end of the season and it's something he is neither ruling in nor out.

"I'm here until the summer and that's all I know, but if they want me to sign then they can always offer me something," he says. "The ball is in their court really and it's up to the club if they offer me something, so we'll just see what happens.

"It would be a big move for me to come south but I'd obviously consider it if everything is right. It's a good club with a good fanbase and it shouldn't be out of the Football League, and I would definitely consider anything they offered, but all I know at the moment is that I'm here until the summer."

Closing with his hopes for the rest of the season, Lee has his sights set firmly on the play-offs at the very least:  "I want to play the best I can, score as many goals as possible, and make sure Cambridge stay in the play-offs.

"From my personal point of view, I just want to get myself sorted out in the summer. My contract's up in the summer so I don't know where I'll be, I might be looking for a job, but I hope a club comes in and takes me or Cambridge want me stay here."

With Lee's goal record at all of his clubs so far, it is hard to imagine him looking for a job outside football in the summer and I'm sure all U's fans join me in wishing him a successful time with Cambridge United.

Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk

*A shorter version of this interview was originally published in the programme for the match against Stevenage Borough on 9th February, 2008.

Lee's answers to your questions will be published in a Q&A article here next week.

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