We'd all welcome Roberto Carlos with open arms, says Ben Davies.

English Football League / Ben Davies / 18 September 2009 / Leave a Comment

Ben sets himself targets in terms of goals and assists at the start of every season.

"As many of you will be aware there has been more speculation in the papers this week of Roberto Carlos being linked with a move to Notts County. I do not know whether there is any truth in this rumour, but to be linked with such a player is unbelievable."

The Notts County midfielder on setting yourself targets, hours spent practicing set-pieces and the possibility of playing alongside one of the greatest left-backs of all time.

It has been a bit of an up and down week for me. We had a fantastic win at the weekend against a very strong Northampton Town side. After going a goal behind, we managed to claw ourselves back in to the game, and eventually won by five goals to two. Our proven goal scorer, Lee Hughes, bagged his second hat trick of the season and our new loan signing, Matt Ritchie from Portsmouth, got a well deserved brace. I managed to play the whole game, but after the final whistle my hamstring was very tight and extremely sore. This took a bit of the shine away from the result for me, but only a bit. I should be back in training by the end of the week and fit for the squad for our trip to Morecambe at the weekend where I will be facing former betting.betfair.com columnist David Artell.

Many footballers set themselves targets for the season. I am no different and I am constantly setting myself goals and challenges for the season and for individual games. As a midfielder I set myself a target of a certain number of assists and goals scored for the season. However, I never disclose my personal goals and assists target, I prefer to keep it to myself so you're going to have to wait till the end of the season to find out what they were! Dependant on the position all individual players' goals target will be different. Most strikers set themselves a target of 20 goals a season while attacking midfielders may want a return of 10. Likewise, most defenders will set themselves a target for how many clean sheets they wish to achieve though this is obviously dependant on the other members of the defence performing as well.

I also set myself targets for specific games. If I am playing out wide, my target will be based on how many crosses I aim to make. However, if I am in the centre of midfield, I target how many shots at target I want per game and how many tackles I want to make. I will not always make these targets, but it is nice to go out there and have something to aim for.

Set pieces are another thing that I like to get involved in when playing. As any footballer will know, many hours are spent on the training ground going through set pieces. All Friday mornings will be the same for most footballers around the country. Set pieces, both for and against, will be practiced until it is cemented into every players' mind what their jobs on Saturday afternoon will be.

Every team will have their own variations and routines that need to be familiarised, so that you do not get caught out on the day. Some teams are very imaginative, whilst others just like to swing every one under the crossbar. During our pre-season tour, we played against an Austrian team, and their style was very different. You just did not know where to go or what to do to stop them. They worked everyone short and had great movement, which nine times out of ten resulted in them having a shot at goal.

As many of you will be aware there has been more speculation in the papers this week of Roberto Carlos being linked with a move to Notts County. I do not know whether there is any truth in this rumour, but to be linked with such a player is unbelievable. I and the rest of the squad love to hear who is being linked with us and who is going to be sitting next to us in the changing rooms. I, for one, would not like to come up against him during a match with those tree-trunk legs and biting tackles. He has similar traits to Manchester United's Patrice Evra, who I personally regard as the best left back in the Premier League. Evra is the complete package. He has pace and energy and is very good on the ball. I would not fancy tracking him back all game; I'm not sure I'd have any energy left to do any attacking of my own.

This brings me on to my bet for this weekend and more specifically, the Manchester derby. I am going for Man City to be winning at half time, so I recommend Man City (HT) at [5.9], and for the final result, I think there will a draw, so will also place a bet on full time result - draw at [4.4].

Alternatively, you could place your bet on Man City/Draw (which means you are betting that Man City will be winning at half time, but the final result will be a draw), there are great odds on this - it is currently [19.0].