Town striker Freddie Sears admits his Premier League bow came earlier than he had anticipated — but he is adamant he wouldn’t have had it any differently.
Hornchurch-born Sears, now 25, was given his debut by boyhood favourites West Ham in March 2008 and managed to mark the occasion with a goal in a 2-1 top-flight home win over Blackburn Rovers (see photo above).
He recalled: "I’m not sure if it all happened a bit quickly for me but in football things just happen at certain times. I scored on my Premier League debut at 18 for the team I support so I wouldn’t change that for anything.
"It probably did come a bit earlier than expected and it’s tough, having had a taste of it, when over the next couple of years or so you are in and out of the team.
"But at a big club like West Ham there are a lot of new players coming in and the strikers I was competing with back then were Craig Bellamy, Dean Ashton and Carlton Cole.
"You can’t have any complaints if you are not holding down a regular place in the first team but I still loved my time there. Now I’m enjoying the fact that I’m with a club at the top end of the Championship and trying to get back up to the Premier League.
"I learned a lot from players like Bellamy and Ashton because I worked with them quite a lot. It has all helped to make me better and stronger to what I am now as a footballer. No disrespect to Colchester, but I went there to play games, even if it was down a level.
"It was always on my mind that I wanted to make the step up again in the future. There was a bit of interest from clubs in me this season and I think it has all worked out well for me. I’m certainly happy with where I am now.”
Sears has scored four Championship goals since crossing the Essex-Suffolk border in January to add to the 14, 10 of which were in League One, he netted earlier in the season for his former club.
He added: "The quality is a lot different in this league and it’s tougher too. But I feel as if I’ve coped well with it and also coped with the demands of the 90-minute games.
"I’ve played two 90 minutes now and I think the gaffer’s been pleased with me. That’s what I have to keep doing and keep pushing, working hard and try to get the team to where it wants to be.
"The biggest difference I’ve noticed is the quality. There are better players in the Championship and it’s maybe a bit more physical. There are good defenders at this level and it’s more difficult to break teams down.
"League One is a good league with quality but you can tell there’s a step-up going into the Championship. I’m just enjoying it, testing myself every week against new players and new teams.”
Sears has caught the eye with his intelligent, well-timed runs and in the absence of the injured David McGoldrick he has formed a strike partnership with 23-goal Daryl Murphy that has pleased manager Mick McCarthy.
He said: "I think making runs is something that comes quite naturally to me but obviously I also work on that sort of thing a lot in training. I’m a fast player and I like to play on the shoulder of the last defender. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t, but luckily enough I’ve been onside more than I’ve been offside.
"I’ve just got to keep going, keep working on that part of my game and hopefully get a few more goals before the end of the season. The thought of Didzy coming back in the near future is a very exciting one. I’ve been disappointed that I haven’t had an opportunity to play alongside him.
"We’ve seen him in training and how well he’s been doing so it would be great to have him back in the mix and adding to the competition for places in the squad.”
Asked if he, Murphy and McGoldrick might work well together, should manager McCarthy opt for a 4-3-3 formation in any of the remaining games, Sears replied: "That’s up to the manager but I’d love that to happen. It would be a good option for me but at the end of the day it’s down to the manager and what he thinks is best for the team.”