00:00So, now, back with Blackpool, how good does that feel?
00:04Yeah, I'm just happy to get it over the line.
00:08So I was with the boys from the start of pre-season and,
00:11nah, it's gone good so far, yeah, enjoying it.
00:15You spoke about wanting to feel wanted, so how big a thing was that
00:19when you obviously found out Blackpool were interested in winning you back?
00:22Well, I knew, even when I was alone, the interest was there.
00:26And, well, it's not just in football, in life.
00:30You want to feel wanted and stuff like that.
00:32And it's the best, like, opportunity to play as well.
00:37And every footballer wants to play as much as possible.
00:40And as a striker, the more you play, the more chances to get a goal.
00:45So I felt everything aligned.
00:47Was it the first time, a good few years, that you felt wanted by?
00:51Because you felt wanted by the fans and the manager?
00:54Not really, because the clubs I've been at, I was wanted at the start.
00:58But everything in football was football, like, there's ups and downs.
01:03But, nah, I'm just happy to be back. That's amazing.
01:06How quickly did you connect with Blackpool during your launch bell?
01:09Was it a few weeks or a few months when you thought
01:12this could be somewhere I could see myself in the future?
01:14I'm not really sure, to be honest.
01:18Obviously, scoring on my debut helped.
01:20And, obviously, it's good to score as a striker straight away,
01:25because it just takes a bit of pressure off.
01:27And I reckon probably when I started hearing the chant,
01:31and my friends watching matches and stuff like that,
01:34they obviously see me and Jory playing again and stuff like that.
01:39It all just made sense.
01:41How special is hearing your name being chanted,
01:44and having that close bond with the fans?
01:46Nah, it's good. Obviously, when you're on the playground,
01:49and when you're young watching footballers,
01:51that's what you dream of, to be fair.
01:53So, it's good, but it shows that I was getting chances to score.
02:00And, obviously, I want to hear the chant more and more,
02:02which means I'm doing my job.
02:04Yeah, you've got that knack of scoring.
02:05You just pop up.
02:06You could be quiet for a few minutes,
02:07and then you pop up in the right place at the right time.
02:09So, is that what you pride yourself on,
02:10just working quietly in the background to yourself?
02:12Not really.
02:13I like getting involved in the game,
02:15but the older I've got, I'm obviously learning to,
02:19I wouldn't say manage myself in a match,
02:22but just save energy for winning in front of goal.
02:27But in pre-seasons like this, it's tough,
02:29but the more fitter we get as a team,
02:32the more sharper we get,
02:35the more I'm involved in games as well.
02:37I mean, not just getting on the end of, like, chances,
02:41affecting the team, helping us defend as a unit as well.
02:44But, obviously, the fitter I am,
02:46the more I'm going to score.
02:48Obviously, with your partnership with Ashley Fletcher as well,
02:50it's important to be part of, like, a cog in a wider machine
02:54and make sure you do your role,
02:56or benefit your game than everyone else's.
02:58Yeah, the way, well, football,
03:00I feel like it's different to when I was younger,
03:03where it's a lot system-based,
03:06where I feel like when I was growing up,
03:07it was really, like, it was more individual.
03:10So I feel like we worked well as a unit,
03:14and not just, obviously, me and Fletch,
03:16everyone who was in the team.
03:18I felt the system helped a lot of us,
03:20and the more we get used to the gaffer,
03:23because the boys didn't have him for pre-season last season,
03:26as I'm aware, the more we get used to the system,
03:29it can only benefit all of us.
03:31Is it a weird thing as a youngster,
03:32you are just trying to prove yourself,
03:33and now, obviously, it's more about that rounded team success?
03:37It doesn't matter if it's the youngest player or the oldest one,
03:41we all have to prove ourselves.
03:43So, I feel, nah, I feel like even my last game of football,
03:48whenever that is, I'll still be proving myself.
03:51Spoke about McGaffer, just how much was he involved in,
03:54making sure the deal was done to get you back?
03:56Yeah, he was ringing my phone,
03:59and obviously trying to get in contact,
04:01but it was always in the back of my mind,
04:04and not just the gaffer,
04:05like, teammates here was asking me and speaking throughout summer,
04:10so it was always going to happen.
04:12I'm just happy it got done before day one of pre-season.
04:16Yeah, because there was always reports,
04:17I think there was reports early on that Stoke
04:19would be willing to let you go,
04:20so after that play, I think everyone gets a bit edgy thinking,
04:23why hasn't it happened yet?
04:24Why hasn't it happened yet?
04:25Yeah.
04:26You're just calm about the whole situation?
04:27Yeah, I was on holidays and stuff like that,
04:29and whatever happens, it just kind of happened anyway.
04:33I was just enjoying my time off and just getting the rest in.
04:37But, like I said, I'm here now, I'm just happy having me in with that.
04:41How is the camping so far?
04:43So we've said it's very warm.
04:44Yeah.
04:45But apart from that, is it all good?
04:46It's really warm.
04:47Now it's tough, it's pre-season,
04:50that it's not going to be easy and you have to put the hard yards in here
04:54to help us be strong for the season.
04:59So I feel like it's tough, but it's what we need.
05:02We need to put in the work.
05:05Hopefully it will benefit to get the targets that we want at the end of the season.
05:10Obviously you know a lot of the lads already,
05:12there's some new lads also in, but has this made you closer in the hole?
05:15Yeah, I feel it has, but I feel like when I was on loan,
05:20it was only like three or four months I was here,
05:23but it felt like I was here for ages.
05:25Even like, it felt weird when I was going because it was alone,
05:29but it just felt like I was a signing anyway.
05:32And that's only, I can only say that's a good thing for how the boys,
05:37like obviously in the team and how the fans are,
05:39and like the staff around the building.
05:41I just felt, I felt like I was here already, like as a perm.
05:45So to be actually signed here,
05:47it feels like I was signed anyway last season.
05:50So that's good.
05:51Did it just make you hungry for success?
05:53Obviously you've got such a good bond to make sure you reward that.
05:57Yeah, a hundred percent.
05:58I feel like we wouldn't be here if we didn't want to get our goals anyway.
06:04So I feel like the drive of the players in the team,
06:07especially our last season ended.
06:10We know the next step is obviously trying to get minimum in the playoffs.
06:14So I feel there will be more signings coming into the building.
06:17And I feel like the stronger we get as a team,
06:20it can only benefit us.
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