EASTLEIGH goalkeeper James Pullen had special incentive to pull off a Spitfires' man-of-the-match performance on Saturday.

The man in the opposition dugout - Saints boss George Burley - was his manager during his teenage years at Ipswich Town.

Essex-based Pullen was outstanding, keeping Saints at bay with a string of agile saves to restrict the scoreline to a respectable 4-2.

"George Burley was my first manager at Ipswich and it was nice to show people that I'm capable of playing higher - maybe back in the Football League," said the 25-year-old.

"I joined Ipswich at 17 when George was the manager, but then he left and went to Derby and Joe Royle took over and after a couple of first-team games I was released.

"I have a lot of respect for George, he's a brilliant manager and who knows if things might have turned out differently for me if he'd stayed at Ipswich?

"Football's often about being in the right place at the right time."

Pullen went on to make 16 appearances for Blackpool, where he was part of the squad that won the LDV Vans Trophy, and three for Peterborough, before dropping into non-League with the likes of Dagenham, Gravesend and Fisher Athletic, from whom he joined Eastleigh in October last year.

Such was his contribution to the Spitfires maintaining their Conference South status, that he was doubly honoured as the supporters' player and manager's player-of-the-season.

The latter award was particularly special coming from such a well-respected professional as Eastleigh's former team boss Jason Dodd.

And like so many others at the Silverlake Stadium, Pullen had mixed feelings about seeing Dodd working alongside Burley in the opposition dugout on Saturday as Saints' new first-team coach.

"That seems to happen to me a lot," he sighed. "I do well for a club and then the manager I've been playing for seems to disappear. Maybe tha's the luck I have in football!

"Jason's a lovely bloke, really nice to get on with and he's a great manager. Southampton have got themselves a terrific coach and I wish him and them all the best."

Pullen's dearest wish now is to follow Dodd's footsteps back into the professional game.

Until recently he was working for a fencing business run by his ex-Eastleigh teammate Steve West, but he confessed: "It's a lot of strain on the body and I can't mix it with football.

"I don't want to rush into anything job-wise for the moment because I'm still hoping something could be just around the corner for me.

"I'm happy at Eastleigh. They're a good club and I want to keep the consistency going with them, but everybody should be ambitious to play higher.

"Otherwise you'll be a non-League player for the rest of your life and I don't want that."