I think you joked about messaging Ole, didn’t you, last night? But seriously, have you been in touch with any other team-mates, or has anybody reached out to you that you played with while here?
“Yes, I spoke shortly with Sir Alex. He wished me luck before the game. You know, Ole sent me a text to wish me luck, as [did] many former players that reached out and just sent me a text, [wishing] all the best. It was great to receive all these messages.”
Next up, it’s arguably a much tougher test against Chelsea, who are in decent form. So your thoughts ahead of the game?
“Yeah, it’s going to be a big match, a tough one. Chelsea playing really well at the moment. Lots of attacking power players who can decide the game, scoring lots of goals, playing very well on the ball. So, we’re going to have to be at our very best, you know, to get a result, to get a good game. It’s obviously what we want. We want to try and win it. But we also respect the opponent, know their qualities, and [what] we have to do. Yeah, we have to really be together and strong, you know, to stop them. And from there, see what we can do, you know, to win the game.”
You scored three goals against them while a player here. What are your memories of playing against Chelsea?
“Always tough games, you know, going to Stamford Bridge but also playing at home. It was also in the times where [Jose] Mourinho was the [Chelsea] manager and it was very tough teams to play against. Very well organised, strong teams. Physical. Strong. Obviously in the time with [Frank] Lampard and [Didier] Drogba. Players that can decide games. It was always great games to play against them.”
