Hero Robbie eager to stay red-hot
Reporter: MATTHEW CHAMBERS
Date published: 21 November 2011
MAN OF THE MOMENT: Robbie Simpson holds the match ball after his hat-trick.
AFTER bagging Athletic’s first hat-trick for three years, striker Robbie Simpson hopes he can go even better before signing off his loan spell next month.
Out in the cold at parent club Huddersfield Town, the 26-year-old forward has built on a steady start to become an integral part of manager Paul Dickov’s attacking machine over the past two months.
His sudden goals glut of four-in-two reflects a series of increasingly impressive displays. And with seven assists — the joint-best record in npower League One — it is clear to see the sort of impact Simpson has had in a supporting role to 12-goal top scorer Shefki Kuqi.
Dickov is keen to sign the striker permanently when the transfer window opens in January. Before then, though, Simpson will have to make an unhappy return to Huddersfield.
“What is better than ‘over the moon’?” said the former Cambridge and Coventry man, after registering the first treble for the club since Lewis Alessandra managed the feat in a 3-1 win over against Scunthorpe in October, 2008.
“Whatever it is, I am feeling the next one above that. The way we are playing at the moment, we are getting at teams and pressing them high up the pitch and playing from there. It is suiting us.
“I have four games left (on loan) now. I am sure they will go quickly and the three weeks I will then have, wherever I will be, will be very long.
“I am just enjoying my time here. Hopefully, I can keep on improving each game and keep on scoring.”
Simpson admitted he was “shattered” in the second half of Athletic’s 5-2 thrashing of a Chesterfield side managed by John Sheridan and featuring three ex-players — Neal Trotman, Mark Allott and Leon Clarke — from the start.
That was down to a bout of illness, making his efforts in scoring three times all the more impressive.
“I didn’t get much sleep the night before the game,” Simpson added. “I couldn’t breathe properly as I had a blocked-up nose and my throat was killing me.
“The doctor told me I have got tonsillitis. But I was always going to play. If I know an injury or illness won’t get worse by playing then I will always play.”
Athletic’s form at Boundary Park had been a cause for mounting concern earlier this season.
After seeing off cup competitors Crewe and Burton, this third straight home victory made it five wins from the last six in all competitions on home soil. This latest three-point haul means only three points separate Athletic from the play-off positions.
