Carlisle United's Harry Lewis on his move from Bradford City

The former Bradford City No1, who made his Blues debut on Saturday, says he will be committed in every way to making a success of his time in Cumbria.

Lewis, who signed on a two-and-a-half year deal last week, says he already feels at home at United and he plans to keep it that way.

“I already feel comfortable here,” he said. “People have been really friendly, the lads have been great in helping me settling in.

“My girlfriend is up here, she’s pregnant and we had our 20-week scan yesterday, so we’re looking at properties up here.

“I want to move up here and do everything properly so I can give Carlisle my all while I’m here.

“The club have been fantastic with me and have helped me settle in so I hope to repay the favour on the pitch by hopefully keeping the ball out of the net.”

Paul Simpson brought in Lewis to be United’s new No1 after a chequered season so far on the goalkeeping front at Brunton Park.

Initial first-choice Tomas Holy twice lost his place with his first replacement, Jokull Andresson, also then dropped and injured.

Gabe Breeze, the 20-year-old Cumbrian, performed well in four first-team outings but Carlisle have now put faith in Lewis to be their last line of defence for the League One survival fight and beyond.

“I’m delighted to be here and delighted to get it done,” added Lewis, speaking in a club interview.

“It all seemed to happen very quickly but I’m really happy to be here and I’m certainly embracing the challenge. It feels right to be here right now.

Lewis made his Blues debut against Oxford on Saturday (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“There’s a big challenge at hand here and it’s one I plan to rise to along with the rest of the lads.

"I wouldn’t be coming here if I didn’t think we could do it. I think there’s more than enough quality in that dressing room to get out of trouble and hopefully I can be an important part of that process.

“That’s why I’m here.”

Lewis says he feels for Breeze, who has lost his place in the side despite doing little wrong, but the new man believes the Cumbrian has good prospects.

“He’s already made his EFL debut [at 20] which is fantastic. I didn’t make my EFL debut until I was 24, so for him to have played at such a young age is incredible and a fantastic achievement and not one to be taken lightly,” added Lewis.

“It sounds like he’s done a fantastic job so he’s probably slightly unfortunate that I’ve come in and got the start on Saturday. That’s goalkeeping and it comes with the territory but he’s been fantastic and he took the news really well.

“I spent a long period of my career being third choice goalkeeper and not playing at Southampton which I found tough.

“When I made the decision to leave there it was purely to play football.

“Coming here, I know there are no guarantees and I need to play well but I’ve come here to play games at a higher level. Hopefully that’s going to be for the rest of this season and the next two seasons.”

Lewis said the security of the deal United offered was also a key part of his decision to move.

“That’s what it’s all about,” he added. “I don’t do things by half – if I’m here I want to move here and get to know people here.

Lewis was last summer at the centre of speculation over a possible move to Barnsley, who face Carlisle tomorrow (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“My mum was at the game on Saturday and she was in the Beehive before the game probably causing trouble!

“For me it’s all about getting involved and stuck right in. There’s a big challenge ahead of us between now and the end of the season but there’s 19 opportunities left to get out of trouble and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we could do it.”

Lewis, after his debut ended in a 3-1 defeat to Oxford, will now play his first away game in United colours at Barnsley on Tuesday night.

The Yorkshire club had been interested in signing Lewis last summer but a deal did not materialise.

“It’s another tough game – they’ll be similar to Oxford in the sense that they’ll play a lot of football but we can’t be scared of that,” the keeper added.

“Everyone is playing for something at this point, Barnsley are up in the play-off places at the moment so they’ll be needing a result in front of their fans as well.

“It’s up to us to go there and ruin their day and show that we want it more than they do.”