00:00Welcome back to Blackpool. How did it feel to wake up on Tuesday morning and think, I'm a Blackpool player again?
00:07Great, great. I mean, waking up and just driving down in Lytham into Squiresgate, it was, like I mentioned before, it was just a great feeling.
00:16It felt like it's just comfortable and it felt like home and it gave me that sense that I've not felt for a while. So, yeah, great feeling.
00:23Obviously, you're playing your best football at Blackpool, but what else makes it so special to you, you know, for it to feel like home?
00:28Yeah, I mean, just everything about it. The football takes care of itself when you're happy off the pitch.
00:34So, I mean, the area, the fans are incredible when you're playing well. It's like it just gives you a boost.
00:42The training ground, the stadium, I'm familiar with, I'm used to and I just click with it.
00:47So everything about the club, it just suits me and it's obviously where I play my best football.
00:52I mean, obviously, the team's completely changed. There's only four players left from when I was here the first time.
00:59But it stays the same at Blackpool. That's one of Blackpool's strengths. There's not many egos and there's always a close-knit squad.
01:06And that's the same now, even with me being in a day or two, I can tell the lads are great.
01:10And like I said, that's one of the important things at Blackpool. So that's really good to see.
01:16Did those lads do, obviously, you know, for the first time and second time, were they talking to you before the move got finalised?
01:22Were they trying to convince you to come back?
01:24Of course, yeah. Yeah, I obviously got in contact with the people I knew and they were all desperate to get me back.
01:29And I was desperate to get back because, I mean, the people contacting me are great people, great people to be around every day.
01:35And that was definitely one of the reasons for me to come back.
01:39How long did it sort of take from when you first found out about the interest or you expressed your interest to obviously getting over the line?
01:45It took a while. I mean, it took a while.
01:47It was a few complications, obviously, with Forest and my contract situation.
01:53And then there were a few other clubs and it just took a while to all sort itself out.
01:58But I was holding out for one club and that's probably why it went to deadline day, because it was difficult to sort out.
02:04But thankfully, it just got over the line.
02:07Yeah, was it a case of once everything was sorted with Forest, you knew exactly where you wanted to be?
02:11Yeah, no, for sure. It was just sorting out with Forest and then head down, focus on Blackpool
02:16and trying to sort an agreement with Blackpool, which was obviously all I wanted.
02:20Obviously, last year you joined North End.
02:23Does this move this summer feel slightly different to that one?
02:27Obviously, going back to somewhere you know and probably feel a bit more comfortable going back to a team that's not a big rival.
02:32A hundred percent. I mean, it was similar in the fact that it was both deadline days.
02:37But the feeling of going to each club is completely different.
02:41I'm not going to lie, it's completely different.
02:43And that feeling of excitement and just getting going is all I can feel right now.
02:47And I can't wait for Northampton away.
02:50Sometimes football, it's, you know, you don't have choices.
02:55But like I've said, I've got this opportunity to make it up to them.
02:59I'm not stupid. I know how much of a rivalry is.
03:03I know how much Blackpool and Preston are rivals.
03:07And I know how much they would have been upset and hurt for me going.
03:11And that was in my mind, of course, when I went.
03:14And it was in my mind, of course, when thinking about joining Blackpool.
03:18But like I've said, it's given me an opportunity to make it up to them, to get them back on my side.
03:22I obviously know I need to play well.
03:24I know I need to do what I know I can do.
03:26And I know I need to recreate the form that I showed them before.
03:30But if I do that, I know that our relationship can be like it was before.
03:33So, yeah, form-wise, it's important to find, obviously, for yourself and the club to find where you was at in that first spell.
03:40Yeah, I mean, definitely.
03:41Definitely.
03:42I know that's still, I'm not 32 years old and my legs have gone.
03:45I'm 26 and I feel like I've improved as a player and a person.
03:49Like, I see myself training every day.
03:51I see myself in in-house games and some games that people might not watch.
03:54And I know that the ability is still there.
03:56I just need that backing, that confidence.
03:58I need to push myself and make sure I'm in the right physical state.
04:02And I'm 100% sure that that form will come back.
04:06Yeah, you are, obviously, 26, prime of your career.
04:08Do you feel because of a couple of maybe spells that you'd rather forget, you've been sort of written off in a little way?
04:15Definitely, definitely.
04:16But that's fine.
04:17I'm not bothered about that.
04:18I'm not bothered about outside noise.
04:20I'm confident in myself.
04:21The people around me are confident in me.
04:23And now I've got the club that are confident in me too, which is all I need.
04:27Now it's just about recreating that form and putting it all on the pitch, which I'm confident in that I can do.
04:32Because I know I'll work hard and I know I'll do everything I can to get back to that.
04:35So, yeah, obviously, there's people that will probably write me off and I'll look at my last spells and just look at stats and not take into consideration situations or formations or anything like that, which is fine.
04:48Because that's football.
04:49It's a stats game.
04:51But I know that people around me and in myself, I've got that confidence and that belief and that desire to get back to where I want to be.
04:58You want to play as a winger.
05:00Steve Bruce loves playing as a winger.
05:02Obviously, over the past few years, you've not been able to as much.
05:04And in his time at Blackpool, he's not been able to use them as much.
05:07So, isn't it perfect coming together?
05:09That's it.
05:09Yeah, I mean, Blackpool is obviously the club where I felt the best and felt at home.
05:13But adding to that, it's the pitch to me and the way they want to play suits me perfectly.
05:19I'm not just going to force it to a club just because I love them and it won't suit me.
05:22This club genuinely does suit me.
05:24And the way Steve Bruce plays is quite similar to my first season with Blackpool.
05:29And that counter-attacking style and me getting on the ball and running with it, that suits me perfectly.
05:34So, I'm so excited to get going.
05:36There's some good competition.
05:37Obviously, we started the season with no available wingers to start.
05:40And now, you know, there's so many options.
05:42Are you looking forward to thriving off that?
05:44Definitely, yeah.
05:44I mean, football is all about competition.
05:46And like I mentioned before, it's League One.
05:48You know, you're playing 46 games in the season plus the Cups.
05:51And Christmas, it's going to be dirty and hard and socks up and scrap.
05:56So, you're not expected to play every minute.
05:59And you can't have a weak squad like you need a big squad.
06:02So, I've seen in training today and yesterday some of the good players on the wing, which is great.
06:07It's perfect for what we want to do, especially with how much Steve Bruce emphasises wingers.
06:12So, we're going to need every single one of us.
06:15You've said how much Blackpool means to you.
06:17And obviously, you've ended up back where you feel you belong.
06:20I think, is the regret looking back about how you left the first time, obviously, going to Forest?
06:24Obviously, a step up at the time.
06:25But do you feel regret looking back how that went?
06:28No, you can't feel regret in football.
06:30It's such a short career and I've got a lot of benefits from it.
06:34Obviously, there's things that I want to work on in the future and get back to.
06:39But you can't regret a decision you made because that will affect your mental state.
06:43So, I don't regret anything.
06:45Obviously, I've missed the place.
06:47I've missed friendships I've built and I've missed playing how I want to play and the freedom I've had.
06:53But I've got much more time in me and I know I can get that back.
06:56So, I don't regret it.
06:58But I definitely have missed this feeling and I'm so happy to be back.
07:03Yeah, just finally, you know what the club can be.
07:04You know what it can do when it's in the Championship.
07:07So, that determination of helping them get in there and feeling that success at Blooming Through Road again.
07:12Definitely, yeah.
07:13I mean, all I can remember is the night games in the Championship with the Northstand bouncing and, you know, us winning and winning comfortably in the Championship.
07:23It's just such a great feeling.
07:24And like I said before, I'm so confident that we can get back to that.
07:27And that's ultimately where we want to get to.
07:29And everything's in place to do that.
07:31We just need to pull our socks up, work hard, no egos.
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