Wales International striker Simon Church has signed a short-term deal with Scunthorpe United that will keep him at Glanford Park until January.
The 28-year-old has played for Reading and Charlton amongst others, and he has most recently plied his trade for Roda JC Kerkrade in the Eredivisie.
Church sat down for an interview with iFollow Iron where he discussed his reasons for joining, his targets and his impressions of the team.
SC: The manager (Graham Alexander) gave me a ring earlier in the week. He asked how I was and if I would be interested in coming and playing for Scunthorpe. I said yes straight away. For me personally it’s been a frustrating year with injuries, going abroad and not playing. I’m at the stage now where I want to really knuckle down, get fit and get back to playing. Hopefully by coming here I can help the team as well.
ON ADDING MORE GOALS TO THE TEAM…
SC: Hopefully I will. I’ve got a lot of experience at Championship and international level. I would like to get back to playing again, and scoring goals is both what I love and what I’ve missed. Sometimes, until you’ve come out of it for a year like I have you can take playing all of the time for granted. You get a real hunger back and that’s where I am at the moment.
ON WHAT HAS HAPPENED DURING HIS YEAR AWAY FROM THE GAME…
SC: I went to Holland last year on the back of playing the semi-final of Euro 2016 and it didn’t go too well. Four games into my time there I had to have hip surgery and so it was frustrating. It was a new environment and a new opportunity for me, but it didn’t go to plan. That has happened but it’s been a long year of rehabilitation and getting myself right and I’m at the stage now where I need to be playing games and scoring goals.
ON HIS NEW TEAMMATES…
SC: I’ve known Crofty (Andrew Crofts) for years from the Wales set-up. He’s a great player with great experience and I know Lee Novak as well. I’ve spent some time with him at Huddersfield Town when I went on loan there a couple of years ago. I know of a lot of the players as well. There’s a lot of quality in the squad which is why they did so well last season. We want to get back into the Championship this season and so if I can come here and help them to do that then that’s what I’ll try and do.
ON HIS STYLE OF PLAY…
SC: I like to run around a lot, make myself busy and put myself about. I’ve learnt over the years to not waste time with the amount of running that I was doing though. Instead, I like to get myself into the box a lot more instead. Since I have been doing that I have managed to score a few more goals and hopefully I can do that here.
ON HIS PERSONAL TARGETS…
SC: The gaffer and the club have given me the opportunity to come here, get fit, get some minutes on the pitch and play some games. They want me to help the squad to try and get back up the table.
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A DEBUT AGAINST PETERBOROUGH…
SC: I’m hopeful. I’ve been training and now it is about getting those minutes on the pitch and making myself sharp again.
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