Chopra Attending College - Ipswich Town News

In-form Ipswich striker Michael Chopra has revealed the part that a college course is playing in his recovery from a costly gambling addiction.

Chopra spends every Wednesday — his normal day off — at Suffolk New College in pursuit of a qualification as a car mechanic.

Town’s leading marksman is bang in form at the moment with four goals in his last three outings taking his season’s tally to 11 in 30 appearances.

He is making headlines for all the right reasons after owning up earlier this season to a gambling addiction that he estimates has cost him as much as £2 million over the years.

It has seen him miss a lot of games in the current campaign, firstly when he spent three weeks in the Sporting Chance Clinic and again when he was dropped from the side at the beginning of this year because of a slump in form.

Chopra, 28, said: "I enrolled at the college because I wanted something to occupy my mind and my time on my day off each week.

"Basically, I am messing about with car engines and learning how they work. I went for that course because I’m not the type to sit down at a desk and write essays. I wanted something more practical — the course is probably 90 per cent practical — and where I had a realistic chance of gaining a qualification.”

What to read next: