Blues striker Ali Al-Hamadi, who moved to Stoke City on loan for the rest of the season in January, says he needed to get back to playing week in, week out having been involved infrequently for Town in the first half of the season.

Al-Hamadi became the first Iraqi to play in the Premier League when he came on as a sub against Liverpool on the opening day but made only another 10 appearances, all from the bench, as well as two cup starts before departing for the Potters, a proposed switch to West Brom having broken down after the clubs were unable to agree terms.

The 23-year-old, speaking in a lengthy and wide-ranging interview with Stoke’s Potters' Pod says that despite his lack of games, the first half of the season was far from wasted.

“At Ipswich this year, I didn’t play as much as I wanted to,” he reflected. “I was coming off the bench in the Premier League, which is unbelievable for me considering I was at Wimbledon however many months ago it was.

“But I learnt different things, I learnt how to come off the bench, I learnt how to play a different style of football, I learnt that training really matters, I learnt so many things, invaluable things that year that I know I’m going to take forward in my career.

“It’s not the same season as I had at Wimbledon when I was rattling in goals every week, but it doesn’t matter, that’s not the point, the point is how can I keep getting better? [Town manager] Kieran [McKenna] was just unbelievable at that with me and with all the players.”

He added: “You need to go through those little periods of learning. Not every phase in your life is a thriving period, there are different periods, there are learning periods, there are periods when you need to go through adversity.

“I’ve missed a couple of penalties now and I know people can laugh about it on social media and take the mick, but, for me, that really hurts because it’s something I’ve tried to work on a lot.

“Whether I’m going to be a phenomenal penalty-taker in my career, I don’t know, we’ll find out, but you need to go through little periods where you don’t play as well, where you’re on the periphery, where you’re third choice, you struggle.

“But you have to go through those periods and then you have to go through the periods where you’re thriving.

“Maybe in those periods you don’t learn a lot but the work that you’ve done before, that’s the time to show it and you might progress a level and then it’s like a learning phase again.

“That’s the life of a football and of a young footballer, and that’s what’s always set me apart from others and I’d say any top footballer would say the same thing. The one thing I would big myself up about is that I’ve got an elite mindset and I don’t think there are many people who think like me in terms of how I approach everything in my life.

“What the fans think of me is obviously important and I want to have a positive impact and a positive effect on people who come to watch me, but in all actuality, in the most respectful way, it doesn’t matter to me because I know the work I do, I know how I approach everything, how much I put into everything every day on the training pitch, away from the training pitch, how much I dedicate my life to it.

“So, at the end of the day, everyone wants to be a fan favourite, everyone wants to have their name sung, and that’s amazing, but what matters is whether you can go to bed knowing you’ve done everything you can, and I know I do that, so I’ve got no doubts about myself in that aspect.”

Recalling the Huddersfield game at Portman Road last May when a 2-0 win secured promotion to the Premier League, Al-Hamadi, who wasn’t in the 20-man squad, the Iraq international continued: “Going into the game, you knew it was going to happen. If we won it, we knew we were going to be promoted and there was going to be a pitch invasion of some sort.

“I’m quite close to Sam Morsy at Ipswich, we get along really well and I was on the bench and first thing I did was ran to Sam, sprinted straight out and grabbed him. I don’t know what I was saying to him or he was saying to me but another one of those moments that someone who doesn’t play sport and achieve something like that would ever experience, it was just pure euphoria.

“The next minute I’m on the fans’ shoulders, everyone’s invading the pitch and there was so many people and kind of know what you’ve just done but you don’t know what you’ve just done, ‘What have I just done? What have we just done as a club, as a team?’

“And then my little brother kind of just appeared, he must have sprinted and found a few of my mates. It was crazy!”

He says the switch to Stoke in the Championship was one he felt he couldn’t turn down and so far the move has been a success, yielding two goals in his eight starts.

“It would have been easy to stay because when it came down to it, it was do I go, do I stay and just wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t take the challenge on and try it,” he said.

“There were a lot of different factors, it wasn’t one specific thing, but the main thing was just playing football because I went through six months at Ipswich of not playing as much as I’d been used to in the year before that, so it was, can I get back to playing? Can I get fit again? Can I get sharp again?

“Coming on in Premier League games gets you fit and sharp but the feeling you get from playing week in, week out, smashing games out and getting that momentum and getting that sharpness, it doesn’t matter what level it is, you need to be doing that, that was the main thing for me.”

The Potters’ sporting director is former Blues captain Jon Walters, who Al-Hamadi is delighted had faith in him.

“Jon’s been great with me,” he said. “He had an unbelievable career, was a brilliant striker and to have someone like that believe in you is a thing in itself. It was a no-brainer for me, really.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Linkboy13 added 16:10 - Mar 28 I think he's got the potential to play in the championship but the question is has he got the ability to play in the Premier league and this has to come into the equation if he is going to stay at Portman road long term.
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hoppy added 17:38 - Mar 28 A really good, honest interview it would seem. You couldn't fault his effort, as he found himself at a level above where he would've expected to be at that point. I'm sure he'll do well going forwards, whether it's with us or not. Glad the loan is working out for him to get a bit more game time than he would've got by staying.
11

flykickingbybgunn added 18:57 - Mar 28 I think, for the moment Ali has found his levelat Stoke. He showed he was no where near EPL standard yet. Which does not mean he wont be. Just not yet. Good luck to him.
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Tractorboy58 added 19:14 - Mar 28 I like this fella and really hope he makes it . Players that have to battle to the top are often the best characters
6

Leejames99 added 21:15 - Mar 28 Like him, future at Town I think will depend on where we are at season end, if we stay up I'm sure he will be loaned out again but go down and I think he will be sold unless he wants to be third choice at Town. Everyone knows I think Delap will stay up or down for at least 1 more season unless a silly offer comes in and we feel there are other strikers that can make the step up, which there will be. If relegated wouldnt mind Dane Scarlett or Troy Parrot or Callum Robinson, Will Lankshear especially if we could buy Cajuste. I think some bids might come in for Hirst, Rangers wouldnt surprise me. Will definately be a new striker and a midfielder or 2, I think we should give Burgess and Tunazabe new deals for sure. By listening to Ashton and Sheeran it did sound like all the new signings will stay, and Delap seems like he likes it here from his interviews. I think Slicker being number 2 next season might be an influence on Delap too. Hamadi might come good and can score in Championship.

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ArnieM added 22:42 - Mar 28 ...Translates to, I would like a permanent move to Stoke please?
4

bucket99 added 22:52 - Mar 28 I watched a Stoke game on the telly after he joined, and when the team went forward it didn't look like he was trying to find space or make himself available to be passed to. That should be second nature for a forward, being on the shoulder of the last defender and that. In the PL he seemed to take way too long to make a decision when he was in possession, so that the chance disappeared before he could exploit it. I wish him well, and there's no doubt that he was being asked to make a big jump when we signed him. I think he's still got improvements to make. But then haven't we all? :-)

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Edmundo added 10:39 - Mar 29 He's gone from Div 4 to Div 1 in old money. Not even Harry Kane was the finished product at that age (he was at Scum a bit like Ali at Stoke), not saying Ali will be that amazing, but he's still "one for the future" imo and will be more of a Kayden Jackson for us next season in the Championship. Those tough stages of the season when we have 7, 8, 9 injuries, he may well become a key member of the squad.

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cartman1972 added 15:00 - Mar 29 I don't care how honest his interview is he's awful, no movement, no pace , sweet f a . Hope he's sold on in the summer
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bobble added 07:47 - Mar 30 I thought you needed to be playing well to get in the team to play every week...
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runningout added 15:24 - Mar 30 like all our players of the past 3 seasons it’s difficult to be critical. Football can be harsh as footballers are aware
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