Spiller unfazed by dropping out of the league

DROPPING down to the Blue Square Bet Premier for the first time in his career was of no concern for new Hatters signing Danny Spiller, writes Mike Simmonds.

The experienced midfielder, who has played all his football in the League after beginning life with Gillingham, was fully aware of what to expect and is relishing the challenge.

He said: “It’s no concern to me. It does seem like another professional tier of football now, most clubs are full-time, Luton are full-time, so I’ll be doing what I’ve loved doing every day since I’ve been a kid.

“There’s no real change in the situation for me there.

“It is the first time I will have played outside the Football League. I know the Conference can be very competitive and the way they play football it’s not just football that gets played.

“That’s been part and parcel of my game for the last 12 years now, so I’m up for the challenge and I understand that you’re going to need to have a right battle and earn the right to play. Nothing falls into your hands in the Conference that’s for sure.

“I think that the manager is showing with the players who he’s signing, they are player’s who can do both sides of the game, so that will be important for us this season.”

A Youtube footage reel of Spiller in his prime at both Millwall and Gillingham, shows a tough-tackling player with an eye for a goal too, but for Town fans who weren’t aware of his qualities, he said: “I’m a midfielder with energy, tenacious, I like both sides of the game. I love a tackle and I’m a ballwinner, but I consider myself as a passer as well.

“I’ve been on set-pieces all my career too and am sure if there’s any others in the team we can juggle it between us and come up with some nice set-plays.”

Although Spiller has suffered with injuries over his career, making just six starts for the Gills last season, he declared himself fully fit to begin life as a Hatter.

The 30-year-old said: “It’s all good now. I had a couple of injuries over my career, but they’ve only ever been impact injuries because I’m always full-blooded in the tackle and being that type of player, you will pick up knocks on the way.”

Spiller will link up with his new team-mates when the squad report back for pre-season training and although he is meeting most of them for the first time, there will be one familiar face.

He added: “I played with Dean Beckwith when I was at Gillingham. He’s a great lad and a great professional, so I’ll be looking forward to rejoining him.

“Other than that, I’ve not really played with any of the other lads, so I’m looking forward to hopefully making some new friends and a fresh start for myself.

“We’re having a trip away, so that will be great for team bonding and I think it’s important we create an early camaraderie to take us to where we need to be.”

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