Marcus Braddock talks to Paul Murray ahead of the Port Vale game

Paul Murray was one of Paul Simpson's first signing at the Prostar stadium, in May 2008. At 33 he is a player who brings a vast amount of experience to the side, having played in 3 different national leagues. I grabbed a quick word with him after training one lunchtime.

MB: Having been at a few clubs, how does Shrewsbury compare?

PM: It's very professional, I've been at a lot of clubs and it's a really good set up. It's a thing I wanted to do in the latter part of my career, especially after Gretna, which went bust and was liquidated. I wanted to spend the last few years of my career, I wanted to go to a club that was up there, with a nice stadium and a good training ground and that was professional. That's what I wanted in the latter stages of my career, and that's what I have got. It's a great club; we have just got to get it up into league one where it deserves to be.

MC: So you are possibly looking at Shrewsbury as the last stop in your playing career?

PM: You never know, things have gone well for me in the last couple of years. I had 34 games at Gretna, 36 here and this season so far, 10. So obviously I would like to play on, I'll see how the body is at the end of the season and take it from there. If we get to league 1 which is our aim, I think I could still play in that league and it would be nice to do it with Shrewsbury.

MB: You played at quite a high level, with just 2 appearances in the Premiership; do you consider yourself unlucky not to have played more in the top level?

PM:The only thing that stopped me was injuries, I played for England u18, then I played 4 times for the under 21's, I went from there straight into the B squad, played in the B squad on the Tuesday and on the Saturday I broke my leg.

MB: That's pretty unlucky.

PM: It was because it was in February and there was already something on the table for the summer to take me back to the Premier league, but I broke my leg. Because it was the end of February, I only had March and April left, and I couldn't get back. Then it was summer, and psychologically for me it was a bit of a killer. If you break a leg at Christmas, you're back by February to get games in, I never did and I think that is one thing mentally it took me a while to get over. That's what stumped my progression a little bit, but I got over it and continued.

MB: Looking at your career, I notice you played for Biera Mar in Portugal, how did that happen?

PM: What happened was that, I was at Oldham and there were 3 or 4 clubs wanting to buy me in the January transfer window. I more or less had a deal in place to go to Portugal; I always wanted to play abroad. So I had Preston and Crystal Palace wanting to take me back to the championship, which would have been nice, but I chose to go to Portugal. It came about as a friend of mine, Mick Wadsworth was there, and it was a two year deal. I always wanted to play abroad but I only played 17 games and got a knee injury, which was the worst one in my career. Once I realized that I was probably better off getting treatment in England. I came back and got myself fit, because I think I was eight months out, and I went to Carlisle, my previous club.

MB: You were at Carlisle just after Paul Simpson had left?

PM: No, I went there as he had me training there, but I didn't get to play for him as he went to Preston. It was the same problem there; I played 14 games and got another injury again. I never got back to play unfortunately until the end of the season.

MB: It's amazing that you played as much as you have, given the injuries that you have had.

PM: I know, I probably missed four or five seasons when you look at it like that.

MB: Where do you think you played your best football?

Obviously being at Q.P.R. And being called up to the England B squad, England's first team reserves really. Obviously you wanted to play for England, the World Cup squad was going up and Glenn Hoddle had said that this was the chance for everyone. So that was obviously the time when I was doing well for my club, I was going to move in the summer and I was playing for England and everything was going really well. So I would probably say that Q.P.R. was my best football.

Then again, I have adapted my game since I have been here, most of my career I was an attacking midfielder, not scoring so many goals but getting up and down and being a part of the attacking side of it. I have adapted my game since Gretna and I sit in front of the back four now. So I am really enjoying that now, I've come into some good form at Shrewsbury. Last year it was a bit of a slow start but got there in the end, and then this year I have had no injuries from the start so that's a benefit for me. I have adapted to that role and it's gone quite well, so I am playing the best football of my career in that role now.

MB: You are 33 now, how many more years of playing do you think you have left?

I take every season as it comes now, the gaffer always says that I will be alright and he played until he was 37. He had different injuries to me, but if I get another good return from this season, I think I have played 8 ninety minutes now. Last year I didn't play that many nineties, most of them were seventy or seventy five last year. So if I get a good return again, then obviously I will be saying another year. If we get to league 1 I would definitely want to try to get in there, because I can definitely play at that level.

MB: Do you have any plans to go into management when you finish playing?

PM: I truly love football, that's why I am still playing with the amount of injuries that I have had. I am enthusiastic to play still; I think people can see when I am playing that I love it. I train as hard as anyone, as hard as I did when I was 17. Management is something I want to do eventually; obviously you have got to do the graft. You have probably got to do four years, it's like a YTS, you have to do that first before you get an opportunity.

MB: So are you doing your coaching badges?

I have done my first one and I am going to do another in January, you have got to get them done. I have got a lot of experience in the game and I am sure I can motivate people. I am not afraid to say things when things are going wrong. I think it's for me eventually, but as I said, you have got to get in there first and see what happens.

MB: we have Port Vale at the weekend, what are your thoughts on the game?

PM: Well I am really looking forward to it, because I didn't play in that game last year when they beat us 2-1 in the last minute. So really after sitting on the sidelines and watching that, I feel like we've got a bit of a score to settle there. It will be an exciting game and I am looking forward to it. On our own patch, we have had just the one blip against Bradford, I am sure that was a one off. Hopefully it's another 3 points for us on Saturday.

Marcus Braddock