Jamie welcome to Rushden & Diamonds, how did the deal come about?

Well I know Justin from his previous time at Grays, when I was there he was there too. I spoke with him and he asked what I was doing next season and would I be interested in coming here. I thought I'd definitely be interested, it's a lovely club with a lovely stadium. It's a nice playing surface so I didn't really think too much about it really, knowing Justin it was quite an easy decision.

Usually the stadium and grounds are complimented by travelling teams, did that pop into your mind when making your decision?

Yeah, it takes me a couple of hours to travel up from where I live, but there are a couple of lads from that area so we can take it in turns, its not too bad. There are not many teams in the Conference that have got a playing surface like this so it does help. When you play on bumpy pitches it's not the best, but the pitch plays a big part in it.

At the same time was it a hard decision for you to leave Grays, you've been there a few years now and had a lot of success there. I know they've had their problems recently, but was it a tough decision to leave?

Yes it was tough because I've been there so long; I've been captain for a few years now, I got on well with the fans. I think sometimes you know yourself when its time to move on and I felt it was time to move on. The way Grays is changing with a new manager and totally new playing staff, I felt it was the right time for me to move on.

What is the brief Justin's given you, what are the aims for next season?

We're looking to be challenging for the playoffs and I think its possible with the squad we've got, from what I've seen the squad is looking okay at the moment.

Has Justin talked to you about the captaincy at all? There's a lot of young players and you're more experienced, you've played at this level for a long time, you know the level I guess that responsibility is going to fall onto your shoulders.

Once you've got that experience it doesn't matter whether you are wearing an armband or not you'll rub off on young players with your experience on the pitch and your encouragement, so whether you are wearing an armband or not it really doesn't matter.

You have played in the Conference for a long time - its going to be one heck of a league next season with the teams that have joined, a lot of clubs have already made plenty of moves, the ones that have got the money have made their moves, its going to be tough but there's no reason why you can't do something?

Yeah its going to be tough there are 7 or 8 teams that you know will be there or thereabouts every season, hopefully we can count ourselves as one of them, its going to be tough but it's a challenge were all looking forwards to.

What would you say as a player you bring to the squad?

I bring no nonsense defending. I'm sure some of the players I've played against will say I'm a tough defender, I like to play a bit and I hate losing, I hate it! Also with my experience I can help a lot of the younger players in the team.

What's Justin like to work for as a manager?

He's brilliant, he's a real players manager because he's been a player himself at a top standard. He knows what players want and I think it rubs off on you, you enjoy training - there's nothing worse than coming to training if you aren't happy. You can get the best out of happy players.