MICHAEL Pook says that he had a funny feeling he would end up playing under Mark Collier at Chippenham Town.

The former Swindon Town midfielder made his second appearance in a Bluebirds shirt in last weekend’s disappointing 5-1 loss at Dunstable Town after joining Chippenham from Southern League Premier Division rivals Hungerford Town earlier this month.

Pook, who has also had spells at Cheltenham Town, Maidenhead United and Oxford City, was already well-acquainted with Hardenhuish Park chief Collier off the field before linking up with Chippenham and says that he’s looking forward to getting some games under his belt at his new club.

“I used to live with Mark’s son Sam and Matt Bulman (former Bluebirds goalkeeper), so I got to know him a bit through that,” said the 28-year-old.

“When he took over at Chippenham, I did keep an eye out for how they got on and thought that it could be a potential future club.

“I was at Oxford City last year and because you were in the Conference North, there was a lot of travelling to places like Barrow and Workington, which is in the Lake District, and that becomes a bit of a problem.

“I made a lot of sacrifices to join Hungerford in the summer, like dropping down a league, because they were talking about pushing for promotion but I simply didn’t really get a game.

“As soon as I found out Mark was interested I decided to make the switch. But I’ve got to respect that he’s my manager now and not just a mate.”

Pook added: “It’s been an up and down few weeks so far because we have been struggling with so many injuries and a lot of the players that you’d expect to be the backbone of the team are out at the moment, like Coupsey (Matt Coupe).

“Hopefully, by Christmas time, we can get closer to having a fully-fit squad and look to push up the table in the second half of the season.

“Until then, the players that are fit are going to have to do there best to make sure that we don’t miss them too much.

“Mark Preece has come in recently and he’s a good player, that’s come in from a higher level. I played with him at Oxford City and know what he can bring.”

The Bluebirds are in FA Cup second qualifying round action this Saturday, with Hellenic League Ardley United visiting Hardenhuish Park.

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