The QPR striker on his loan move from Bournemouth and returning to his roots ahead of tonight’s Championship clash at home to Sunderland.
Was Loftus Road the perfect place for you to come to last month given you were at the club as a teenager?
Yeah, of course. I had other options but I spoke to the manager and had that history with the club. It all made sense, the potential here. It was a no-brainer. I was here really young and the first team was such a far-away thing for me. It was about trying to get into the youth team, now it’s good to go full-circle and represent the first team at a club I was at when I was 14. Home comforts are always nice.
Since you were last in west London, it’s fair to say you’ve travelled the country, playing for eight clubs in league and non-league.
I’ve gone everywhere in the UK! It’s nice to finally be a bit closer to home… it’s been a long time. It is a massive club and it’s my local club. I’ve grown up with QPR. I’ve travelled all around and it is nice to be back. The kids’ grandparents are round the corner, it’s not a four-hour journey for them anymore. Everything makes sense.
Did you think you were destined for the top after breaking through as a teenager?
I made my senior debut in League Two for Barnet aged 17 and then I thought my life was set, that was me for the rest of my life. I’d be playing in the Premier League at 18. It was the polar opposite: I was playing non-league by the time I was 19, I got a job and jumped from club to club just sitting on the bench in non-league. I then quit my job to pursue a football career again.
What was it like having to work as a teacher and sports coach to make ends meet after coming out of the professional game?
It’s real life. Everyone needs money to survive. But it took away from the hours I could have been playing football and that was enough for me to realise I needed to kick back into gear. I coached two teams and taught PE in the day. On Wednesdays I’d start teaching at 7.30am in breakfast club and then get home at 9pm in the evening. I was doing too much. That was the drive to make a change.
Do you enjoy your full-time football career even more second time around?
There’s not a day I’m not appreciative of what I’m doing. I can’t take it for granted. I have seen the worst of the worst pitches, training grounds and stadiums so now I’m like a kid when I go out to train here. These things will never get old for me. It’ll never be just another day for me playing at a Championship ground. Being back in the league was the main thing for me.
You only featured twice in the Premier League for Bournemouth this season before the loan move. Did you need to take action?
I’d rather just play. There’s a cliche that says ‘I’ll just sit here and collect whatever I’m getting paid’ but that’s not for me. I don’t want to miss out anymore. It’s not going to last forever. The most important thing is playing as much as I can because I’m just grateful for the opportunity to do that. It’s a short career and I could waste another two years sitting around not playing.
The Hoops lost 2-1 at home to Millwall on Saturday but ahead of Sunderland’s visit do you believe 16th-place QPR can make up the seven-point gap to the top six?
The front two have left everyone behind but the play-offs are so open, as they always are in the Championship. It will be like that to the last two or three matches. There are plenty of points for us to play for and we’ve seen teams time their run before. The team that does that goes into the play-offs with momentum.
Is it fair to say you might feel you have seen it all during your career?
I’ve experienced a variety of things, at every level. I’ve seen the seventh tier and I have seen the top tier and all the good, the bad and the ugly in between. They all have their pros and cons. It’s a dream to play in the Premier League as that’s what every kid wants to do and I’m proud of the journey I have been on. It’s not finished yet!
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