Adam Phillips' 'relief' at breaking his Bradford City duck
Adam Phillips said it was "95 per cent relief" as he finally got up and running as a Bradford City goalscorer.
Midfielder Phillips was brought to Valley Parade from Barnsley in the summer precisely for his ability to regularly find the net at League One level. He did it 37 times in 156 appearances for the Reds.
But, hampered by injury, he never hit his stride under previous manager Graham Alexander.
The arrival of Michal Duff, who he worked so well with at Oakwell in 2022-23, has seen Phillips become more prominent and he has got into good goalscoring positions without scoring until Tuesday's night's 2-0 League Cup last-16 win over Peterborough United when, after twice letting himself down with a heavy touch when through one-on-one, he beat Alex Bass,
"It's probably about 95 per cent relief, I think," he commented.
"I came to this club as a goalscorer and to get chances and create chances, get assists.
“I've been a little bit unlucky. I hit the crossbar home against Leyton Orient, had one cleared off the line against Stevenage and then the one against Burton was probably my own fault, lacking a bit of confidence.
"Just to get off the mark was a massive relief and I'm really happy to contribute to the team and get us into the next round.
“I've never really experienced it in my career to have that many chances and nothing falls.
"I had two chances before and I'm just thinking, 'Is it going to come?’
“After the second one, I just wanted the ground to swallow me up. But credit to myself to keep going, get another chance and I was happy to take it.”
The 28-year-old admitted his transfer had not yet gone as he wanted.
“I'm not making excuses but I had a couple of injuries in pre-season so there was a little bit of a setback," he explained. "I was a little bit behind on fitness and I've been in and out of the team.
“To get a goal and hopefully a run of games with lots coming up now will do me a massive favour.
“When you come into a new club, you're learning a new style of play.
"I know the manager's changed again, but there's not a lot changed.
“For it to be a little bit stop-start is tough but I've just got to get my head down now, work as hard as I can and build on this."