Town striker George Hirst returns to the Championship at Sunderland on Sunday having failed to find the net in a total of 40 previous appearances in England’s second tier.
He played 31 times there for Rotherham in the 2020/21 campaign and a further nine the following season when he was loaned to Blackburn, all without scoring, and he acknowledges he returns at the weekend with a point to prove to his critics.
Hirst mounted a strong defence of his record, stating: "It’s one of those things. For whatever reason – and obviously, if I knew what the reason was, I would have fixed it by now – I haven’t scored goals in the Championship. In all of my previous loan moves I never settled in straight away and hit the ground running.
"I only had two league starts [and seven outings as a substitute] at Blackburn but people will look at the stats, as I have as well, and they’ll say I have played 40 games without managing to score.
"But strip it back and it’s only a total of six league starts in those 40 games. If you take it for what it is and look at the actual number of minutes that I’ve played in the Championship it’s not as bad a stat as what it might seem.”
Hirst made four starts for the Millers alongside another 27 appearances from the bench but he is clearly determined to do much better with Town, adding: "Ahead of the new season it puts an extra bit of fire in my belly and I know I’ve got a point to prove.
"Hopefully, if I can go on to have a good season, it will mean firing in the goals to get us up the table and it might keep a few people quiet.”
Although he is likely to start on Sunday, Hirst also knows he faces healthy competition from Freddie Ladapo for a place in manager Kieran McKenna’s starting line-up. "Freddie and me are both in the same position; we both want to be the striker that’s leading the line week in, week out. But at the same time, we both understand that can’t happen and won’t always be the case.
"Being here on loan last season, I built a good relationship with Freddie and it wasn’t a case of one playing and the other out of it and sulking.
"We were both pushing each other and knowing what the gaffer’s like when it comes to a striker both starting and finishing a game. It didn’t happen very often.
"We both understood that if we were coming off the bench, we still had a role to play. There were still chances to be created and goals for us to score.
"That’s a healthy situation for the team in that neither player can rest on his laurels because there’s always someone breathing down your neck. On that front I think it works pretty well.”
With managers able to use five substitutes from the nine they can name on the bench, players know that if they are not in the starting line-up, they at least have a reasonable chance of getting minutes as replacements.
Hirst said: "The players who start know they can run as hard as they can and as long as they can because there’s a mate on the bench who can come on when the gaffer thinks the time is right.
"He has complete trust in the subs because he knows they can come on and take over and maintain the hard work and the pace. Competition for places is key at any club looking to achieve things.”
Having netted a number of excellent goals during his loan spell last season, the former England U21 international added: "I can’t decide which one was my favourite and I’ve maybe set the bar a bit high coming into the new season.
"But I’m not really bothered how they go in, whether they’re from two yards or 25 yards, as long as it crosses the line – they don’t even have to hit the back of the net for me!”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s live-on-Sky clash, Hirst was asked if he thought Town could go on to emulate Sunderland’s feat in qualifying for the play-offs last season, their first back in the Championship following four years in League One.
He replied: "They have shown it’s possible. It’s not something that is completely out of reach and we are determined to set our mark on the division.
"We showed last season that we can compete at this level with our two FA Cup displays against Burnley and for us it’s about making sure we do every little bit of our process right.
"That will lead us where it leads us and the boys are in good spirits and looking to make it another good season for our fans.
"Without a doubt it is better for me to be back here. During my loan spell I created friendships and bonds with other lads in the changing room, so getting promotion and sharing that memory with them is a memory I will treasure for the rest of my career, in fact the rest of my life.
"That in itself creates a bond and for me it just felt natural to come back here. There’s been no need for any settling-in period. I’m back and this is where I want to be.”
The chance to work again alongside Town boss Kieran McKenna was clearly a major factor in Hirst’s decision to make the permanent switch to Portman Road – and he discovered the feeling was mutual once the formalities of the move were completed.
He explained: "I’ve had conversations with the boss since I came back and he expressed the view that it was one of the reasons he wanted to bring me back. It sort of feels like a good match and I can only speak about how much I have improved as a player under him and the rest of the staff in the few months I was here last season.
"I’m looking to continue that growth and continue to improve at the same rate. I don’t place limits on myself as to how good I want to be; we’ll get there when we get there is the way I look at it.
"The gaffer is really open and honest about it and his training sessions don’t just suit me, they also help me to improve as a player, which was another massive reason why I was so keen to come back permanently and play under Kieran again.
"Another big reason to return is that I wanted to settle into life at a club, not just spend time out on loan and that sort of thing.
"I’m 24 and young but in football terms you can’t really call me a youngster any more. I feel like I’ve been around a long time and that I’ve been getting spoken about for a while.
"I’m not exactly going to complain if people still call me a youngster but I know in my head the reality of the situation.
"I wanted to find some stability in my career after a lot of moving around and I knew where I wanted that to be. It’s a very different situation now to what I was in before.
"I now have a proper base from which to put the work in, push on and make myself a better player.”