RUFC - Raynes 'a tough ninety minutes'

Rotherham United defender, Michael Raynes made his debut last night in the Carling Cup game against Leicester City at Don Valley.

Speaking to MillersPlayer about the experience, the twenty-three year old said, 'I thought we did well for an hour but they are a good side and, in my opinion, I expect them to be knocking on the Premiership door. We've got to take the positives from tonight and look to build on them on Saturday.

'I've played against them before but it's my first ninety minutes since March and it was tough on me today but, as I say we did well for an hour and then the tiredness sets in, which is why those boys are worth millions.

'You want to play against good opposition and I think the boys should look at them and say 'that's where we want to be.' You're not going to get there overnight but these are the teams we want to be playing and not slogging it out in League Two, you want to be challenging it out against people like that. We know that if we want to be at their level we've got a lot of improvement to do.'

Talking about himself, the former Stockport and Scunthorpe centre-half said, 'Over the last couple of years my career sort of his a brick wall and, for one reason and another, it didn't happen for me at Scunthorpe. I'm not blaming anyone but myself for that and I'm looking to resurrect my career and I think I'm at the perfect club to do that. I've come here to play and I'll be pushing the others all the way.

'I could have gone to a lot of other places that were very similar to Scunthorpe but I want to be playing. We've got a lot of centre-halves here so we will be pushing each other all the way and that's never ever a bad thing. I saw Troy (Brown) and Cressy (Ryan Cresswell) on Saturday and I thought they were both outstanding but it's a good thing to have competition for places because that's what helps get you promoted. I knew about those two boys when I came and that I wasn't going to just walk into the side. There's a lot of games in League Two and we aren't going to be able to play them all but we just need to work together. A good squad gives a good moral and we've got a common goal to keep clean sheets and win games.'

Michael was a Youth team player with Adam Le Fondre at Stockport and he said his goal scoring record is phenomenal. 'You can't buy what he offers to a team and he deserves all the credit and attention he's getting. His work rate has improved a lot since I last saw him and I think, if he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll get his big move.'









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