Next up to talk us through his career is on-loan West Bromwich Albion striker Callum Morton!
Developing a passion for the game and scoring goals…
“I started a bit later than everyone else to be fair, I didn’t join a team until I was 10 years old. I joined my local team with some of my mates in Torquay and we turned out to be quite good. We won most of our games and managed to win the league each year, so it was good fun.
“I like to run off the shoulder of the defenders, so Jamie Vardy has been a big inspiration for me. Whilst I was growing up I also liked watching Robin van Persie whilst he was at Arsenal and Manchester United, and I looked up to Wayne Rooney, too. They’re all really good to watch.”
A move to Yeovil Town, followed by a switch to a Premier League team…
“I’ve always been a striker and I’ve always liked scoring goals. Whenever I was playing, I’d always manage to score and it’s the best feeling, so I didn’t really want to try anywhere else on the pitch! At 14-15, one of my friends then wrote an email for me to send to clubs asking for a trial, so that’s how my move to Yeovil came about. Former Torquay academy coach Geoff Harrop had seen me play before, and I signed soon after.
“The move to West Bromwich Albion came about quite quickly. We played them in the FA Youth Cup whilst I was with Yeovil, I was 16 at the time and I managed to score and we won the game. A month later, I had a phone call from the academy manager saying West Brom want to sign me, and although I played well against them it still came as a shock. I went there for a week and signed.
“It was a strange time because I’d only been moved out of Torquay for six months, so by the time I was settling in at Yeovil it was time to move again but it wasn’t a big decision for me to move because it was the best thing for my development and my career. West Brom were a Premier League club at the time, and I didn’t have an agent but thankfully everything got sorted out and it was a massive move for me.”
Learning the trade and recovering from setbacks…
“I then joined Braintree on loan and although we were bottom of the National League, it was still a really enjoyable experience. I feel as though I performed well and as a team, we managed to pick up some good results. I didn’t score as many as I was hoping to because it’s a tough division, particularly when you’re bottom of the league, but I loved my time there nonetheless and it helped me develop as a player.
“Playing men’s football helps me massively, it’s so much different to under 23’s football because everything is geared around getting three points. Teams need points to survive, and in certain areas you need to win games to get paid, so it really opened my eyes and the experience was invaluable.
“I then picked up quite a bad injury whilst at Braintree. We were playing against Chesterfield and a player accidentally landed on my leg whilst it was planted in the ground, so it was a pretty nasty one but thankfully I’ve managed to come back stronger. When something like that happens, it makes you appreciate being fit again as I was out for 9-10 months. I scored in my first game back for West Brom so that gave me confidence to kick on again.”
Joining the Cobblers and enjoying the race for promotion…
“I’ve really enjoyed my time with Northampton so far. It was a baptism of fire at the start because there was a lot of games to play as soon as I joined and we were already in the thick of aiming for promotion, so the focus was purely on wanting to win every game.
"But I’ve quickly got used to that sort of environment and I feel I’ve improved with each game so far. It was great to pick up the Sky Bet League 2 player of the month award in February, and although I got injured, I should be fine by the time football resumes again.
“As soon as football is back, we just need to pick up where we left off and be focussed on the last nine games, as each one is massive and we want to have a successful end to the season whenever that will be.”