Super Sammie Szmodics praises former Peterborough United star for his part in a return to goalscoring form

Peterborough United star Sammie Szmodics returned to goalscoring form with a bang on Saturday - and promptly gave some of the credit to former Posh favourite Jimmy Bullard,
Posh star Sammie Szmodics celebrates his second goal against MK Dons. Photo: David Lowndes.Posh star Sammie Szmodics celebrates his second goal against MK Dons. Photo: David Lowndes.
Posh star Sammie Szmodics celebrates his second goal against MK Dons. Photo: David Lowndes.

Szmodics claimed his first two League One goals since September 19 in the 3-0 win over MK Dons at the Weston Homes Stadium and the 25 year-old believes motivational chats with Bullard over the festive period gave him a welcome boost.

Posh didn’t play for 25 days which gave Szmodics the chance to reflect on his form.

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Szmodics explained: “I’ve never had 10 days off at Christmas before and it honestly helped me. I got away from football for a couple of weeks. I shut myself off and I had a couple of good conversations with Jimmy.

Jimmy Bullard.Jimmy Bullard.
Jimmy Bullard.

“I know him through my agent and it was great to speak to someone who had played for Peterborough and gone on to play at the highest level about the game.

“Jimmy’s a bit like me. He loved the dressing room banter, but as soon as he crossed the white line it was all business and he was great at explaining how he dealt with pressure and everything else that comes from playing football.

“The break really did me good as I feel refreshed now.

“I’d probably been chasing goals too hard. I was probably putting too much pressure on myself. I am not a confidence player as such. I’ve always been confident about my ability to perform well and score goals. All players have dry spells, but I’d never had a run like I’d just been on.

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“I was working hard though and my teammates and the manager knew that. The manager had been taking the pressure off me by saying he was only interested in my performances not my goalscoring which was good, but it was still great to score twice and for the team to pick up three points.

“It was a relief as much as joy when I did score the first one especially as it wasn’t an easy finish after a great pass by Dembele. The lads and the bench erupted when I did score as they knew how hard I had been working.

“I really fancied when I scored one I’d probably get another one and I probably enjoyed the second goal more as it was a great team goal. It’s a good time to start scoring and hopefully I will get on a run now.”

There’s no time for Szmodics and his teammates to dwell on Saturday’s success as they host promotion rivals Charlton Athletic at the Weston Homes Stadium tomorrow (January 19. 6.30pm).

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“It’s important now we play every game as though it’s our last,” Szmodics added. “We can’t look at the league table. We just have to beat what’s in front of us and then move onto the next game as they are coming around quickly now.

“We have some tough games coming up starting with Charlton. They hadn’t been in the best form until they won on Saturday, but they have a brilliant squad and a top manager in Lee Bowyer.

“They probably won’t be looking forward to playing at our place though. We’ve been good at home and we’ve been grinding out the wins. We’ve got the best home record in the League.

“With the way last season ended we need to keep winning and get as many points as possible as quickly as possible. We need to keep pushing on.”