Scott Hogan said he is excited for the future after returning from injury to score five goals in The Bees recent run of good results. The former Rochdale striker missed nearly 18 months of football with a recurrent knee injury but returned to first-team action last month in the home defeat to Blackburn Rovers. The 24-year-old found the net for the first time in a Bees shirt with the stoppage time leveller against Bristol City three weeks ago before netting twice in each of the wins over Cardiff City and Fulham. Speaking to Bees Player ahead of Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield Town, Scott said he is keen to make up for lost time after ending his injury hell.
“It is nice to be scoring goals,” said Scott. “I remember saying previously that I missed out on a lot of football and I want to catch up on that. The term that I am in a hurry to score goals is justified but I am always in a hurry to score goals because that is what I am paid to do. It has been nice to score the five goals but a couple of times I have come off thinking that I could have had a couple more. In the Fulham game I wanted to stay on for a little longer but, being managed, that is understandable. I felt that I had another couple of goals in me but I can’t argue with what has happened. It has been a long time but, as of next season, I hope nobody asks me about the two years that I have had or my injuries because I will forget about them.”
Scott has been eased back into first-team contention in recent weeks with his first Bees start coming last week in the 3-0 victory over Fulham. After missing so much football over the last two seasons Scott admits it was always likely that he would pick up a few niggles along the way in his recovery but said the plan remains to be fit and ready to go for the start of next season.
“Before my injuries I never had any soft tissue injuries and I was fit every single game,” said Scott. “With the type of player that I am, coming back from injury to then go into Championship football, I think that anybody with common sense might have said that I would pick something up. I thought I might have started earlier but I picked up a hamstring injury in the international break which is telling me that my body isn’t ready for 90 minutes yet. We have got something to play for because we are playing for the club and we are playing to win every game but we can’t go up and we can’t go down. It has been ideal for the medical team and the management to ease me back in. The plan is that as soon as the whistle goes for the first game of next season I am ready to play 90 minutes every week. That is the plan at the moment but it is difficult because I like to think that if I play 60 or 70 minutes I would get at least five or six chances a game and I am confident of putting half of them away.”
Scott’s return from injury has co-incided with a run of just one defeat in eight which has seen The Bees climb up to tenth in the table. Having finished in the Play-Offs last season the striker believes that another top half finish will show that The Bees are an established Sky Bet Championship and give them a great opportunity to build next season under Dean Smith and Richard O’Kelly.
“I like to play for Dean Smith and I think that he will make me a better player,” said Dean. “Playing in his team I will only get better and better and I think that the whole squad will improve massively by working with him. Dean and Richard O’Kelly have been great, they went through the difficult period which happens in football. Last season was successful as we got to the Play-offs but fell short and some people expected us to kick on this year. It has been a strange season but at the end of the day we could finish in the top ten. To say that your first two seasons in the Championship you are going to finish in the top six and then in the top ten is not bad at all.
“A lot of people probably thought about second season syndrome but we have established ourselves as a Championship side to be reckoned with. Next season with extra time working with Dean and Richard, and one or two players coming in, I am fully confident of pushing on. If we get a good start to the season then anything is possible. I only aim for the top so I want Play-Offs or promotion. I am excited and the boys are excited so I don’t think anyone will turn up to the first day or pre-season thinking anything other than promotion.”