Source: FOOTYMAD
McSheffrey wants to score to lift City
Prodigal son speaks Returning striker Gary McSheffrey has spoken about his return to his home town club and how he wants to reproduce the form he had at the club before he was sold to Birmingham City to help balance the books. McSheffrey told reporters, “The manager asked me where I would prefer to play and I said I have always liked playing as a striker but I have played wide left now for five solid seasons and you adapt and get used to the position, but as long as it is a free flowing and attacking role you end up all over the place." "It is more important when you haven’t got the ball that you are back within a certain shape but when you have got the ball I think he intends to give players the freedom to express themselves and do well. We will see who else he brings in and hopefully get a good understanding for good, attacking football." “At the end of the day, if a striker scores in the first game of the season against Portsmouth the confidence boost from that will be massive, and when you are playing with confidence positions don’t come into it. You just do things naturally and off the cuff and that’s the feeling I want back and what I want to achieve at Coventry again this year.” In the three seasons prior to his transfer, McSheffrey was City's top scorer with 21, 15 and 17 respectively. He then scored another 17 goals in his first season at Birmingham City. McSheffrey believes the time he has improved as a player during his time away from Coventry City, he said, “It’s a good challenge for me at this stage of my career and I’m looking forward to it." "Being a free agent you always talk to a few clubs and I had some options, but I spoke to Aidy Boothroyd a couple of weeks ago and I was really impressed by his energy and enthusiasm." “I think it could be an exciting time for Coventry and I want to be part of that. It means a lot to me to be back. Leaving before was just one of those things that happens in a career, it was a good move for both parties at the time and I think it’s the same now." // '); // ]]> “My first season at Birmingham was probably the best of my career and the following year I played 30 games in the Premier League, which is where everybody wants to be. I’m grateful to Birmingham for the time I had there but that’s in the past now.” Referring to the knee injury which kept him out of the Birmingham team for some time and the difficulty he encountered in getting his place back again, McSheffrey said, “It’s all over and done with. It kept me out for the best part of a season but I had surgery on it in Sweden 14 months ago and since then I haven’t missed a day’s training because of it. “It was a bit frustrating at Birmingham last season. They had an awesome 18-match unbeaten run and I was sitting on the bench up until January, but fitness wasn’t a problem and I’m looking forward to getting regular games and getting myself back to where I want to be." “I have missed quite a lot of football in the last couple of years but I feel fresh and determined to do well. The two years I spent in the Championship with Birmingham we were always up at the top end of the table and once you get a taste of that you want more. I think we’ve got a manager who will get the best out of his players.” // '); // ]]> On a personal note, McSheffrey then spoke about becoming a father and the effect it had on his life, “At this stage of my career and life this is the right place to be for family and football reasons.” “People always say becoming a dad changes you as a person and I agree with that but I think I got to the point where I was older and more mature anyway and you realise that your career goes very quickly." “My brothers were kept in the dark a bit over my move but they are all buzzing and will be happy because they haven’t watched me play a lot over the last few years so it will be nice to see them at the Ricoh.”
