New-boy Lund has an eye for goal

MATTHEW LUND: looking forward to getting some games under his belt for Athletic

MATTHEW Lund isn’t much into being a ‘water carrier’ in midfield.

That famous description by Eric Cantona of his French international compatriot Didier Deschamps was intended to evoke a player content to scratch around to claim possession before passing it quickly on to more gifted colleagues.

Judging by the number of times Lund mentions the word ‘goals’ when interviewed — as in scoring, rather than preventing them — at this early stage it seems the on-loan Stoke City player is more ‘dynamo’ than ‘H20’.

And the Manchester-born former Crewe player showed his attacking instincts at Fleetwood last weekend,

creating the only goal of the game for Zander Diamond with an accurate curled free-kick to the far post.

“I want to get as many games as I can here, get a few goals and help the team push up the league,” said Lund, a Northern Ireland under-21s international just like his new Athletic team-mates Kirk Millar and Carl Winchester.

“I like to get in the box and get a few goals and that it what I am aiming for.

“It is a great experience for me being here and I can’t wait to get the season started.”

Lund will be seen by many as a straight box-to-box replacement for Dale Stephens, who left in the summer to join Charlton.

If the 20-year-old ends up doing as well as Ben Marshall — a player he accompanied from Crewe to Stoke two summers ago — he will certainly help Athletic fans forget about last season’s second-top scorer.

Winger Marshall (20) had a whale of a time at Carlisle last term, picking up the players’ player of the year award. He is now tipped for a first-team call with Stoke in the Premier League this season.

Such a result is also Lund’s ultimate goal. But for at least the next three months, and possibly longer, his focus is fully on getting some games in under Athletic boss Paul Dickov.

“I want to be doing the same sort of thing with Oldham that Ben did at Carlisle,” Lund admitted.

“I am here until November 21 so that gives me plenty of time. And I wouldn’t mind extending that as well if everything goes well.

“I spoke to the Stoke manager (Tony Pulis) and he was delighted for me to go out on loan.

“And then hopefully I can go back and make an appearance or two for Stoke. That would be brilliant and that is my goal for this year.”