The Green Un's Phil Tooley spoke to on loan left back Peter Hartley for Saturday 22nd March's paper. The article was written just before Hartley and Sunderland colleague David Dowson extended their loan spell with Chesterfield until the end of the season, the day before the Accrington Stanley victory.

On loan from Sunderland left-back Peter Hartley, who'll be 20 next month, has made a real impression since moving to Saltergate almost a month ago. The Hartlepool born player has started all five games during his tenure ahead of today's game with Accrington Stanley and he's looked steady in each game.

He's really enjoyed his time at Chesterfield and feels he's learning his trade well; "It's a very aggressive league, a very physical league. I think I'm improving with every game. I've worked very hard to stay in the team and I've been picked to start every game since I've been down here, that's five games I've started so I'm just happy really. It's a hard league so I'm getting my head down, working hard and I just want to get us promotion."

Things are different to what he's used to with Roy Keane's Black Cats; "It's more direct than what I'm used to, though the training's not as quick as at Sunderland but it's a lot more physical so it's making me mentally stronger as well as physically stronger, which is needed to play in this league."

However the décor's perhaps not quite as good; "It's a big difference to go to play at grounds like Rotherham's after being used to playing at the Stadium of Light and places like the City of Manchester Stadium but the football's good and I'm learning."

One thing the inexperienced full back is prepared to do is shout. Within seconds of his debut against Brentford, his voice has been heard booming across the park, not exactly what you'd expect for someone who arrived with just a few minutes of first team experience under his belt; "You're here to do a job, we're all team mates on the pitch and what's said on the pitch stays on the pitch. If someone's not doing their job, you've got to tell them, that's the type of person I am. I expect that off my team-mates, if I'm not doing my job I'd expect someone to tell me to pull my finger out."

On his single appearance for Sunderland, as a late sub in a 2-0 win at Leicester City he recalls; "It was on New Year's Day. We'd travelled down on New Year's Eve and I didn't know I was going to be involved on the bench, I only found out about an hour before kick off when the squad was confirmed so I just got myself prepared. I managed to get on the pitch for a few minutes at the end of the game and as usual, I worked as hard as I could."

Two games this holiday weekend, then Hartley's loan spell is up, so what next? "I've had a word with the Gaffer here and I think my loan's going to be extended until the end of the season. We're just waiting to see if Sunderland will accept that, we've spoken to reserves manager Neil Bailey so we're just waiting to see what will happen. I'd love to stay here for the rest of the season, it's been a great experience and I just want to work my hardest and win promotion."

Phil Tooley

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Peter Hartley