Wirral-born defender set to face his boyhood club

Sep 7 2007 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

CARLISLE’S David Raven has declared himself fit to do battle with his boyhood club Tranmere on Saturday.

The Wirral-born defender, who was once a season ticket holder at Prenton Park, needed four stitches in a head wound after the Cumbrians’ 1-0 win over Cheltenham last weekend.

But the former Liverpool player, who has been in impressive form this season, says he is fit and ready to help Carlisle chase a repeat of last season’s victory over Tranmere at Brunton Park.

Raven said: “I don’t know if it was an elbow or something else but it was just a really sharp pain. When I came back on I was a bit light-headed. I had a couple of dizzy spells over the weekend but it’s healing and I’ll be okay for Saturday.”

Raven says he will be happy to play either in the middle of the defence or at right-back, provided he gets the chance to put one over on his Tranmere pals.

“I’ve got a lot of mates down there,” said Raven, who had a loan spell with Rovers from Liverpool in the 2005-06 season. “I still speak to a couple of their players, like Steve Davies, and I’ve got a lot of friends outside of football who support Tranmere. So it will be good bragging rights for me if we win.”