Tyler Burey is not about to complain about a change of position. The Carlisle United man may not be a wing-back by trade but a long period without first-team football makes him eager to embrace his current challenge, not turn up his nose at it.
Seven games into his spell with the Blues, the former Millwall attacker has pinned down the role on the right of United’s side. It has placed more defensive responsibilities onto Burey’s shoulders than perhaps he has known before, but you will not hear any objections from the 23-year-old on this.
“I’ve been enjoying it,” he says. “I've been enjoying everything because, [when] I joined [Carlisle], it was eight months since I had a professional game.
“Stuff goes on in football – sometimes you play, sometimes you don't. So for me, it's just that I've been happy. I've come here, I'm just working hard and staying focused and just keeping my eye on the goal.”
Burey was previously on the books of Danish club Odense, while he had a loan spell at Oxford United in League One last season. The last of his five appearances for Oxford came in February and Burey was then released by Odense in August.
It all made it a long and hopeful wait for Burey, until Mike Williamson drafted him into Brunton Park, handing him a short-term deal after a brief spell of training. The player himself is happy with things at Carlisle right now and eagerly aware that he is making up for some lost time at this stage.
On the wing-back role, he adds: “It’s [down to] my desire and it's always good to be able to play more than one position, because the main thing for every footballer, I think, is that they never want to come off the pitch.
“So for me now, I'm playing in this position and [on Saturday] I got my first 85 minutes in nearly nine months. So [it was] a very good day for me, because my legs are getting used to getting going again.
“Now it’s just about remaining focused and just listening to the coaches and just buying into the right wing-back position.”
Burey has added some much-needed pace and athleticism to United’s offerings, which have brought improved results recently even if they are bottom of League Two on goal difference.
Their overall displays have been more solid, more substantial. There are miles still to run but coming fractionally close to beating high-flying Doncaster Rovers is not a position United would have been in a month or so ago.
“We could have had all three points [in the 0-0- draw],” Burey says, “but the main aspect of the game is just to listen to what the gaffer wants because it's working and it's working very, very well.
“The whole team is buying into it and we're just listening and taking on advice. Each week, each training session is just getting better and better. So we're all in a good place and it's just now about keeping our heads, staying focused and just getting ready for the next game.”
United went up against Doncaster with, it seemed, increased belief following unbeaten outings against Salford City, Morecambe and Bromley. It is hoped that four games without defeat can become a foundation for the victories Carlisle are still going to need.
“We're not going to shy away from anything. We're in the position we are. We can't shy away from that,” Burey says.
“So it's just about us lot as a team. It's about being together and building on what's been going on recently. That’s four games now unbeaten – and yeah, of course, in some games we haven't got what we wanted or what we felt like we deserved, but it's football at the end of the day.
“It’s about us now building and keeping the same momentum that we've been doing and just getting better and better each week.”
Burey says he has total faith in Williamson and his ways in this painstaking attempt to improve United’s position.
“The gaffer…he knows what he's doing,” he says. “So we're all buying into him and you can see on the pitch, there [often appears to be] an extra player or we're able to calm the game down and have a lot of possession.
“Some games you might get lucky and some games you might not. But the main thing for us as a group is we're building and we're in a positive place going into the next game.”
Burey enjoyed the purpose with which United looked to play against Doncaster, and which will be needed again in spades against Crewe – and the many more contests up ahead.
“It was good playing in the game. I feel like I'm getting better and better each week. I'm learning the position, because I'm out of position, but I'm defending very well and I'm doing what the gaffer wants, which is the main thing – and also helping the team to the best of my ability.”
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