Paul Anderson’s beard has nothing to do with a football superstition, the Town winger has revealed.
The Town winger said: "I’ve had a bet with a couple of mates from back home and they’re still going with it as well. I’m just waiting for them to shave theirs off but I’m starting to quite like it.
"I’ve been buying into all the beard shampoos and moisturisers, so I’m having a good go at it. It’s just one of those things, a bit of banter with the boys, and I’ll just keep it going because I like to win.
"I’m not going to lose the bet. It’s all about who shaves their beard off first and when they do they have to give the others a fiver each. It’s more the principle of winning, rather than the money, for me.”
Facial hair is nothing new to the Melton Mowbray-born winger who started out as a trainee at Hull, the club that he and his family still support.
He added: "Since I’ve been able to grow a beard I’ve always had a bit of stubble. It’s a bit of fashion as well — beards are in at the moment. Some people might disagree but I think it’s an alright bit of fashion going on at the minute.
"It’s just a bit of banter and you can have a laugh between mates with it. I’ve tapered the sides in because it was sticking out a bit. A couple of weeks ago it was everywhere and I’ve tried to shape it.”
A number of the Town team are sporting beards at the moment, including striker Daryl Murphy and goalkeeper Dean Gerken.
Anderson added: "Gerks’s suits him more than anyone else in the squad. He’s got that sort of look about him that it would work a little bit better with him, but I think he’s struggling to keep up with the length of mine. His seems to have stopped but mine keeps going!”
Meanwhile, Anderson has echoed the views of several of his colleagues that Town’s closely-knit squad is a better option than being virtually spoilt for choice.
He said: "If you’re looking at a 22 or 24-man squad, which is still a big squad, you have cover for each position. Jose Mourinho said he wants two elevens who can go out and play for him and that’s a great thing for any club.
"I don’t think we’ve got quite that many but we’ve got a good small squad where everyone is prepared to work. If you’ve got a squad of 30 or more a lot of lads are going to be missing out from an 18-man squad on match days.
"I suppose it’s a double-edged sword — you’ve got the players to pick from but you’ve also got players who are not going to be happy.”