Ebanks-Blake welcomes clean slate
Monday 24th May 2010, 9:45AM BST.
Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has welcomed boss Mick McCarthy’s ‘clean slate’ to all players and vowed to be stronger next season.
Ebanks-Blake ended his first Premier League season with two goals from 23 games after picking the Golden Boot as Championship top scorer in the previous two campaigns with a combined tally of 48 goals.
McCarthy insisted last week that all players would start off from an equal footing when they report back on June 28, and Ebanks-Blake wants to grasp a fresh opportunity.
He said: “That’s nice words from the gaffer. I’m happy that he’s spoken about clean slates and that’s what you need as a player when you come off the back of a bad season personally.
“It’s good that the manager looks on things with fresh eyes and it’s then up to me to give him a fresh decision to make to try to contribute to his squad.
“My only focus now is to come back stronger next year knowing a bit more than I did the year before.”
Luck went against Ebanks-Blake who could have scored many more in his debut campaign in the top flight with near misses at home to West Ham, Portmouth and Burnley, away at Chelsea, Tottenham and his boyhood team Liverpool.
Although encouraged by the chances that fell to him, the 24-year-old admits he has to put them away if he is to get into the team.
The striker said: “It could have all been very different.
“Goalscoring is about inches sometimes and keepers making saves. I prefer not to wallow in it all too much – that’s just how it goes.
“I’ve got to make those inches up and hit the back of the net and that’s what I love doing.
“First and foremost, I’ve got to work myself back into the team and that’s what I’ll be trying to do.
“I’ve still been getting in positions and whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, I’ll always get chances.
“That’s not luck, it’s something that comes naturally to me, it’s just up to me to put them in the back of the net.
“I’ll just continue to work hard and try to turn things around for me personally.”
UK Sport
Latest Blog — A week is a long time in football
This time last week we were staring down the barrel, third from bottom with a worse record than at the same stage last year, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.
Saddlers Blog
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
