Lawless keen to get down to the ‘nitty-gritty’ on new deal

A hamstring injury followed by illness have kept the Welshman out for about a month, but boss John Still is keen to keep him at the club and Lawless doesn’t want to leave.

The former York player, who has made 120 appearances since joining Town, scoring 11 goals, said: “I’ve had good feedback from him (Still), which was great because when managers come in and stuff it’s opinions in football and if you’re not their type of player then it doesn’t matter what you can do sometimes.

“I’ve managed to get myself in his thoughts, which is great, so fingers crossed we’ll see what happens. I want to stay, I’ve never ever said I’ve wanted to leave.

“We haven’t got down to any nitty-gritty, but the gaffer says he wants to keep me and I’ve never said I wanted to leave, so let’s just see what proceedings hold.”

The 28-year-old midfielder turned in a decent showing on his return to the team on Tuesday night, playing 76 minutes in the straightforward 3-0 victory over lowly Lincoln City.

“It was nice to come back and it was a home game to be honest, because it’s a lovely place to play,” he said.

“It’s felt like forever if I’m honest, it’s three weeks or whatever it was, I was itching to get out there today.

“The last thing you want is to come back (too quickly) - it’s about being professional and it’s about getting things right. I was eager to come back as soon as I could, but we’ve done things right and it was nice to get out there tonight and last as long as I did.

“No (ill effects) fingers crossed, because obviously injuries in football and things like that you do have the twists and turns so fingers crossed it’s all all right.”

Boss John Still was glad to see Alex Lawless back, but revealed it was Ronnie Henry’s last game of the season as he is set to have a hernia operation tomorrow (Thhursday) and will be unavailable for Friday night’s visit of Grimbsy Town or any other game this season.

He said: “Ronnie’s having an operation on Thursday, so we really had to put him in. We have a little bit of a problem now Friday, but we will worry about that Friday.”

Lawless would be an option for that game as he admitted: “I think he knows from obviously the staff that are here (that I play there). But I’ve said it before, I’m happy to play wherever I just enjoy playing and that’s the main thing.”

Against the Imps Still went with a 4-3-3 formation as Lawless was employed in an attacking midfield position, and tinker man Still was impressed with what he saw.

He said: “I think Alex Lawless linked up in that position very well.”

Lawless also enjoyed the opportunity to show what he can do in that role, adding: “When I was younger I used to love it. As I’ve got older it’s a bit of a luxury position to be honest with you because with regards to formations and stuff it doesn’t often get played a lot that role.

“Given the opportunity tonight I wanted to show that I can play there, so hopefully I will have the chance to play there in the future because it is a really enjoyable position.”