Sammie Szmodics will return to Bristol City on Tuesday with a point to prove, insisting he wasn’t given the opportunity he felt he deserved while with the Robins in 2019.
Town visit Ashton Gate aiming for a third league win on the spin following victories over Sheffield United and Portsmouth, in what will be their first midweek league clash of the season.
Blues forward Szmodics played for Tuesday’s hosts after leaving hometown club Colchester United six years ago, but only started two matches and featured twice more as a substitute before a January loan move to Peterborough United, which was turned permanent the following summer.
Now aged 30, the Republic of Ireland international is eager to return to the West Country having since won the Championship Golden Boot with Blackburn and played in the Premier League with the Blues.
"It was mixed emotions there,” he reflected. "I’ve got a really good relationship with the fans there. It’s a really good club and obviously I felt like I should have played more there which I didn’t, which is football and these things happen. I’m looking forward to getting back there.
"It was difficult, it was obviously where I worked under [Town chairman] Mark Ashton at Bristol City so it was nice to reunite with him here. He’s a top man and put belief in me again to come here so I respect him for that.
"Bristol was one of them. I felt like I should be playing and felt like I should have played even at a young age stepping up from League Two to the Championship.
"I felt like I should have been given an opportunity and I wasn’t, but everything happens for a reason.
"I’ve played in the Premier League, am now at a top Championship team and hopefully will get back to the Premier League one day.”
Two matches in quick succession are commonplace in the Championship, with Szmodics admitting that the short turnaround makes it more difficult for both teams to prepare thoroughly.
He said: "It is hard because you have to recover, but it’s obviously important to switch off as well with Sunday off to rest and recover.
"You can’t really look at past results, we’ve had a good win this weekend, we’ve got to take the positives, build and prepare right for Bristol City with a long travel for a Tuesday night game and getting home late on Wednesday morning. We’ve just got to prepare as well as we can.
"The Championship is so fast-paced and the competition is so high. As footballers, you want to play Saturday-Tuesday because you don’t have to dwell on games too much.
"We’ve just won a game on Saturday night, we can take that positivity and that performance. In 48 hours we’re going again, so it’s good to have the competition and the games coming thick and fast.”
After a stuttering start, the Blues go into the week 12th in the Championship table, but Saturday’s 2-1 home victory over Pompey means Town are only four points outside the top two with a game in hand.
Szmodics hopes to carry the positive mood following three points into another busy week.
"Tough, but another important win at home,” he said. "You can’t really count the Blackburn game so two on the bounce really and momentum going into Tuesday night which we’re all looking forward to. We need to rest, recover and get ready to go again.
"The Championship is relentless. You don’t have a lot of time like you do in the Premier League to work on the training ground. The best way to work is in-game.
"The first half was good and the second half’s attitude was really good to see the game out and take the three points.”
Town have played six league matches so far this campaign, with Szmodics starting four of them, including a return to the starting line-up for the match on Saturday.
"I’ve been training hard,” he said. "The boys have been doing well and the manager likes to freshen it up and change things up and be ready when called upon, like all the other boys that are on the bench are.
"Once the transfer window shut, it settles everyone because you know who you’re competing with. When you look at the squad, it’s a top squad and I think we’re moments away from really clicking and really linking. We won the game by a goal on Saturday but it could have been a lot more.”
On the importance of rotation, particularly in the forward areas, he added: "We’ve all got our heads around it that this is what the manager does.
"It gets to 65 [minutes] if you’re an attacking player, you know everyone wants to start the game but you’re 90 per cent or 100 per cent sure that you’re going to come on and make an impact.
"The last couple of weeks, me included coming off the bench, I think we’ve made a real impact and given the team a lot more energy and it was the same again on Saturday.
"I can play nine, 10, left and right. I played a lot off the inside left in the Premier League last year and it’s a real quality of mine, I can play in all four positions and I enjoy all four and understand all four.
"I think it’s healthy, it’s what you need. If you start the game, you get to 55/60/65 minutes and you know there’s a fresh pair of legs coming on. The squad is top and you’ve got two top players in each position.
"Everyone is raring and willing to go, I think it was another top performance from the boys that came off the bench and give us that boost and ultimately got us over the line.”
Towards the back end of last season, Szmodics suffered an ankle injury which forced him to miss the majority of the Blues’ Premier League matches after the turn of the year.
"I’ve had a niggly ankle,” he said. "A deltoid ligament which I still manage every day with strappings and work, but it’s okay at the minute. I’m managing it and getting through 90-minute games so I'm happy.
"Injuries are tough. I’ve never had an injury like this before in my whole career. I turned 30 the other day and I’ve never really struggled with an injury so it is new to me, but it’s just all about managing it.”
There is no doubt that promotion back to the top flight is the priority this season, with Town the pre-season favourites for the title and boasting a squad of players with significant transfer fees.
Szmodics said: "Of course, that’s the goal. Confidence-wise throughout the team, looking at the squad you’ve got Premier League quality.
"It’s just about getting our time right now and linking, it’s coming together with two wins on the bounce and we’ve just got to push on the gas and keep going.
"I’ve always been in that position where I'm fighting for wins. Everyone wants to come to Portman Road and beat us now, we’re everyone’s final. That pressure’s brilliant, a player like myself loves it, I love teams wanting to come and beat us.
"We’ve got top quality players in this team and the Championship is relentless, everyone beats everyone, so to get two wins is massive for us and hopefully we can go on a bit of a run now.”
On Sindre Walle Egeli, he said: "He’s a top talent. His first game at the weekend in English football and I thought he did really well.
"It’s an aggressive game, it’s a high-paced game and it is probably quicker on the pitch than it actually looks from the crowd and he’ll get used to it, and in spells he was really good.
"He’s still got a lot to learn and us boys will coach him through and help him through on and off the pitch. He’s only got good things to come.”
Szmodics recently returned to another of his former sides, Blackburn Rovers, with the match abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch and to be replayed in full at a later date.
The former Rovers man received a hero’s welcome on his first visit to Ewood Park since leaving the club last summer.
"It’s special,” he said. "I enjoyed my time there. I probably played the best football I’ve ever played in my career there.
"I had a really good relationship with the fans and the boys. I loved my time up north so it’s always good to go back to your old club and I wish them well in the future. Obviously we do get to play them again so I'm looking forward to that.”
After the Blues’ trip to Bristol City, it is the return of the East Anglian derby with Norwich City visiting Portman Road on Sunday.
Having yet to score a goal for Town on Suffolk soil, Szmodics was asked if he was saving the moment for a goal against the Canaries.
He responded: "It would be nice, wouldn’t it? With me, it’s a case of keep getting myself in those positions. If I wasn’t getting myself in those positions, there would be a problem.
"People that know me know I don’t care about missing chances, I know a goal will come and I don’t put too much pressure on myself. If it can come on Tuesday night then amazing, but if it’s saved for the Norwich game, it would be amazing too.
"We’ve got a big game on Tuesday night that we all need to focus on. That game speaks for itself, I don’t need to put any words out there about the derby. We’ve got a tough game at Bristol City on Tuesday night that we all need to recover and prepare for.”