DREAM TEAM

ADAM COLLIN – The Rotherham goalkeeper chooses his favourite XI, made up from players he has played with in his football career

GOALKEEPERI

Adam Bartlett – Gateshead We were together at Newcastle in the early 2000s, and he remains one of the best keepers I have played with. He was at Wembley last year with Gateshead and just missed out on promotion to the Football League.

RIGHT BACKI

Richard Keogh – Derby He was a centreback before he moved to right-back at Carlisle – but now he’s gone full circle and is a top-class centre-back with Derby. I’d still put him in at full-back, he’s a big lad but he can get up and down.

CENTRE BACKI

James Chester – Hull City He’s a full international now with Wales so he’s worth his place. He came on loan to Carlisle from Manchester United and I thought he was a bit too small to be a centre-back. He slotted in really well though, and was a great lad to have in the dressing room.

CENTRE BACKI

Ian Harte – Bournemouth Most people will wonder what I’m doing putting Ian Harte in at centreback, but in the season he was with Carlisle he played there and scored 18 goals to become our leading scorer – it was remarkable. The goals weren’t all freekicks and penalties, either. He has a great header on him and he scored a lot from setpieces by finding space in the box.

LEFT BACKI

Chris Chantler – Kilmarnock He’s only about 5ft 3in but he was outstanding in his third season for Carlisle. He came from Manchester City, so he had a bit about him, and he was initially a midfielder so he can play a bit as well.

RIGHT MIDFIELDI

Kieran Agard – Bristol City He’s one of the main reasons Rotherham went up last season, he brought lots of goals and a real threat. Not only that, he worked incredibly hard on the right side of midfield for the team. It was a bit of a surprise when he left to join Bristol City in the summer.

CENTREI MIDFIELDI

Brad Potts – Carlisle He was in the YTS when I was at Carlisle but there was a lot of talk about him, even back then when he was originally a centre-back. Now he’s developed into a really talented centre midfielder, with Championship and Premier League clubs after him. He’s got a big future.

CENTREI MIDFIELDI

Lee Frecklington – Rotherham Lee is in for his work rate and his goals. He scored a lot last season, and was another who was pivotal in our promotion. He missed the penalty in the play-off final, mind you. I was the first to remind him of that in pre-season, and he won’t watch the match back!

LEFT MIDFIELDI

Francois Zoko – Bradford (on loan from Blackpool) He didn’t speak a word of English when he came in to Carlisle, but he certainly made an impact and hit the ground running. He was never someone who would put a shift in, but he would do one or two moments of magic in a game.

STRIKERSI

Vincent Pericard – Retired He’s a massive lad and a handful for defenders to deal with. He wasn’t with Carlisle long before Swindon came in for him, but he’s your traditional target man who scores goals. Alex Revell – Rotherham He was massive for us last season. He’s probably the best striker at heading that I’ve seen. He runs all day as well, but that’s probably because he’s always chasing his first touch!