Ben Herd / Ben Herd / 25 August 2009 / Leave a comment

Ben Herd remains sidelined with injury but still managed to nip off to the opposition team's dressing room to have a chat with Accrington Stanley's Darran Kempson.

"I am the sort of player that is full tilt, be it in training, or in games, so I intend to always give 100% in every game. I like to stay fit, and as a defender, I take immense pride in keeping clean sheets."

Once again, I was not involved in Aldershot's game against Accrington on Saturday, due to a torn medial ligament sustained in the opening game of the season. However, I did manage to have a quick word to get some gossip from Accrington's no-nonsense defender, Darran Kempson for betting.betfair.com.

How did you feel today's game went?

In all honesty, we underperformed to the standards that we set ourselves, and felt that we didn't really do ourselves justice. Fair play to Aldershot though, they played some pretty decent stuff and on the balance of play, in the first half they deserved to be in front. However, I felt that we performed slightly better in the second half, in what was more of an open game with chances being missed at both ends. As they say, goals change games, but missed chances also change games, and I felt that in the second half particularly, we missed some guilt edged chances to perhaps nick a draw. One of these chances was about a minute before Aldershot scored the third goal and we had a great chance to make it 2-2. That's football though, and you get punished if you don't punish the other team first!

Did the betting scandal that rocked the club in the summer affect team spirit and disrupt preparations for the new season?

In a word, "no." The manager has assembled basically a new squad with a lot of young lads, so we are starting a fresh. I think I will also think twice about betting on football full stop in the future! In all seriousness though, we have a fantastic team spirit amongst us and it's great to see that all the lads are pulling in the same direction. The manager even took the lads down to an army base in Colchester during pre-season for team bonding, which was followed by some really long running days! Thankfully, I missed out on those as I didn't join the club until mid-way through pre-season.

What is the aim of the club from a personal point of view and as a club this season?

I am the sort of player that is full tilt, be it in training, or in games, so I intend to always give 100% in every game. I like to stay fit, and as a defender, I take immense pride in keeping clean sheets. As a club, we finished 16th last year so we are definitely looking to improve on that this year. If we can form some consistency away from home and be difficult to beat, then I believe we can push for the play-offs. However, I know half the league will probably be saying the same because in my opinion, I don't think there will be a runaway winner, as it is quite an even league this year.

How difficult is it to motivate yourself for Home games at The Fraser Eagle Stadium in front of the lowest attendances in the Football league?

You know what you get when you join a club like Accrington, and I am the sort of player who can motivate myself. Don't get me wrong, we may have one of the smallest attendances, but the fans we do have are class and make loads of noise, but we could definitely do with a few more! If anything, it probably unites the players a bit more because when we do go a goal behind, we have to pull together and cannot just rely on the 12th man to take us on.

Football

Favourite Premier League Player: Nemanja Vidic
Favourite player outside the Premier League: Chris Lucketti
Manager you'd most like to work under: Sir Alex Feguson
Club you'd most like to play for: Man Utd

Best mate at the club: Dean Winnard
Messiest eater: Luke Joyce
Biggest ladies' man: Michael Symes
Who's best at putting away the pints: Ian Dunbavin

Non-football

Dream date: Kelly Brook, altough Dani Cipriani is a big bloke to get past!
Favourite TV programme: Grand Designs
Favourite shop: All Saints
Worst vice: Farting in front of my Mrs and making her smell it!
Biggest pet hate: Untidy people

50/50

Meat or fish? Meat
Wine or beer? Beer
Blondes or brunettes? Brunette, as my mrs is!
"Friends" or "The Office?" Friends
PS3 or newspaper? Newspaper
Frank Sinatra or Fifty Cent? Franky