New recruit Jamie Cureton insists joining Shrewsbury Town has quickly rekindled his love for football – the prolific striker declaring: “My buzz is back.”
Cureton was pleased to complete his first 90 minutes since the early weeks of the season in Monday’s televised 1-1 draw at Rotherham and, having fallen out of favour with League One leaders Norwich City, he’s delighted to be playing first team football again.
Now Cureton, who has joined Shrewsbury on loan until the end of the season, is expected to line up at the Prostar for the first time against second-placed Bournemouth on Saturday, another big game towards Town’s promotion push.
“I’ve been sitting at home a lot watching Soccer Saturday, moaning and getting myself down,” said the 34-year-old.
“It’s nice to know now that on Saturdays I’m going to be playing rather than sitting at home watching.
“My buzz is back and I enjoyed the game at Rotherham. It was a really good run-out for me and I think I will only improve as it was my first game for a while. I’ll get better as I get fitter and sharper and the goals will come.”
Cureton added it had been a tough few months at Carrow Road after falling out of boss Paul Lambert’s plans despite his total of league goals, 186, making him the third top scorer playing in the top four divisions in England behind only Birmingham’s Kevin Phillips and Scott McGleish of Leyton Orient.
“It’s been hard, definitely,” he admitted. “The new manager came in and put me straight in the side. I played the first three games for him and from there sat on the bench for about 12, 15 games, coming on here and there.
“It got to a point where I was told I could leave. I’ve had two months sitting around not doing too much and weighing up options and I just felt I needed to get away. I felt I owed it to myself to get out there, start playing football again and Shrewsbury have given me that chance so I’m really grateful for that.”
Cureton was pleasantly surprised to go the distance at Rotherham where he was only denied a winner by a goal-line clearance.
“I didn’t know how long I was going to last but I felt good in the end, surprisingly,” he said. “The gaffer asked me if I felt all right and as I did he left me on. I felt quite sharp and it was good to get the first 90 minutes in.
“It will be nice to get a home game under my belt and it’s great to be back out there.”
Cureton is aware of the high expectations his arrival at Shrewsbury has created with the fans, but he’s confident he can deliver the goals to help the club push on.
“That’s not a problem and I’ve had it for a while,” he stressed. “It comes with my job and if I wasn’t doing it then people wouldn’t expect much. I normally try and get the first goal out of the way as quick as possible and hopefully then the rest will follow. Hopefully it won’t be too many games before I start hitting the net.”
As to where his long term future lies, Cureton refused to rule out a permanent switch to Shrewsbury. “I’ve not really thought that far ahead and at the moment it’s short term to get games, but the set-up here seems really good and the boys are a great bunch so I wouldn’t rule it out.
“Obviously, I have to come in and do a good job, and we’ll see what happens after that. The aim is to come in, help the squad out and hopefully help achieve promotion.”
Town are without suspended Shane Cansdell- Sherriff against Bournemouth, paving the way for a Dean Holden return, while midfielder Craig Disley faces up to eight weeks out after breaking his ankle on Monday.
By Stuart Dunn