Lee Carsley stood up for himself. As past and present teammates will tell you, it's something he's good at. Carsley stood up to Graeme Souness, then told the daunting Blackburn Rovers manager what he thought of him. To his face. Now he was standing at Coventry City's training ground - alive - to tell the tale.

Not too many have taken on Souness - on or off the pitch - over the last 20-odd years. But Carsley is an exception. The fact that he has captained two Premiership clubs by his mid-20s aided his sense of self-reliance, as did the fact that he's an established Ireland international. Both are signs of his maturity.

But Carsley is also something of an exception because in the sometimes flighty world of professional soccer he and his wife Louise have experienced matters weightier than having your name left off a teamsheet. The Carsleys' second son, Connor was born with Down's Syndrome and that has shaped the 26-year-old's life more than his career. It has given him a horizon beyond football.

It was only after Connor was born that the problems were diagnosed. Lee Carsley admits it hit him hard. Consumed by his new baby, he left the then Blackburn manager, Brian Kidd waiting for a week before answering the call to join Blackburn from Derby County.

Never mind the five-figure pay rise per week, the midfielder went to visit the Lancashire town to ensure they had adequate facilities to help Louise, the family and their new baby. Only then did Kidd get the answer he was looking for.

This season, at least partly because Carsley had made it clear that he would not stay with a team outside the Premiership for more than one season, the Irish international has often been out of favour at first-division Blackburn. So if Graeme Souness is giving you the cold shoulder, what do you do?

Carsley kept his mouth firmly shut, held onto his self-belief and waited for a chance to move. Since being sent to Coventry, he hasn't stopped smiling. Coventry manager Gordon Strachan is pretty pleased too.

Strachan had trailed Carsley for over a year before getting his man and then signed him on a five-year deal. "It has gone really well since I arrived here, says Carsley, "mainly because Gordon Strachan is quality. He's a player's manager. He was a big reason why I joined Coventry. He's a midfielder like myself and he can still do it on the pitch. He understands my situation off the pitch, too, with my young family.

"Don't get me wrong. Blackburn were a good club and we had settled there. But this is different. I'm with someone who really wants to help me improve. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I've learnt more in three weeks through him and his little tips than I did under Graeme Souness in three months. If I had a big regret at Blackburn that was it. Graeme was one of the great midfielders and he didn't help my game in any way. I was just left to get on with it.

"The trouble was, he felt I let him down. But when Blackburn were relegated, I made it clear that I would play one season in Division One and hopefully help them get up. That didn't look like it was going to happen and halfway through the season I said to Louise, `don't get changing the wallpaper, there won't be much point,' because the writing was on the wall.

"And, obviously, with Graeme taking over from Brian Kidd, I hadn't changed my stance on that and I told him. That didn't go down too well and that's why I was in and out of the team. But I don't regret saying that I wanted to leave. I was honest and stuck to my guns.

"I had played in the Premier League all my career apart from that one season and I needed to be back there."

Carsley could see what was happening. Both Charlton's Mark Kinsella and Matt Holland of Ipswich were forging ahead in the international pecking order and if he was to force his way back into Mick McCarthy's reckoning action had to be taken.

"I suppose there's Matty (Holland), Mark Kinsella, Roy (Keane) and myself," Carsely says, "four players going for two spots (at the centre of midfield). That's always been the case and in my mind at least, nothing has changed.

"However, Mick made it clear that I had to be playing. When I was in the last squad for the Finland game, he pulled all the lads who weren't playing to one side - the Blackburn lads especially - and said to myself, Alan Kelly, Damien Duff and Jason McAteer that we needed to be starting games.

"Mick said: `If you get a chance to start or move, go for it', and luckily enough for me I got the chance to go a week later. I knew I had no chance of playing for Ireland if I was in the first division and not starting.

"But he has always stuck with me. I've been in every squad that I've been fit for. I spoke to Mick on numerous occasions about my situation at Blackburn and he was 100 per cent supportive. As for the international side, he has made it clear that when the squad gets together anyone has got a chance of playing.

"All I've got to do is make as much noise as I can over here and I will get noticed, because there's a huge amount of interest from Ireland, and no wonder, because there's a lot of Irish lads at the top of their games at the moment. For us (Coventry), Barry Quinn and Gary Breen are both doing well and Gary in particular is playing in his favourite position, which helps."

Carsley may not be smiling today, when Coventry, who have had problems with FA Cup giantkillers in the past (Sutton, Northampton et al) travel to Swindon.

"People will see the FA Cup as an opportunity to knock you down," he said. "The Swindon lads will want to put one over on us but we are experienced enough to know that if we approach things properly, we should progress."

As he prepared to depart, he couldn't resist saying something more. "Louise is pregnant again," he added, unsure whether to tell a reporter the news or not. "She's expecting in April - we've had the checks and everything is okay at the moment."

Graeme Souness is the past now. Lee Carsley has stood up and walked into his future.