'This is not just a holiday period' - Sam Clucas out to silence doubters at Shrewsbury Town
Veteran Sam Clucas insists his stint at Shrewsbury Town is "not just a holiday period" to end his illustrious career as he is looks to silence his doubters.
The former Premier League star joined Salop in May after his contract with Lincoln City expired, signing a two-year deal at the Meadow.
The 35-year-old has made an impressive start, starting every one of Shrewsbury's League Two matches so far this season and contributing six assists and two goals. And Clucas admits he is relishing the chance to prove critics wrong.
"I think it will turn some faces around of the doubters who were saying I was injury prone and stuff before," he said.
"I've always put pressure on myself whatever level I've played at, even when I was young or old. But particularly now, when you come with a CV that I've been fortunate to have, I think a lot of people will be looking at that and thinking, oh, that's a signing that you should be doing well, should be doing this, should be doing that.
"This is not just a holiday period for me where I come here and just tick off the end of my career. I came here because I want to do well, I want to get promoted, I want to be at the top end of the league.
"I've still got the hunger and desire to do that. So I put pressure on myself to try and do that."
Clucas boasts 66 Premier League appearances and more than 200 Championship outings, along with over 100 combined games League One and League Two. And this season Clucas has been deployed as a wing-back under Michael Appleton.
He added: "I always want to prove people wrong. You get to a certain age in football now and people just think you're done. That's just a concept that a lot of people have.
"As soon as you get into your 30s, it's oh his legs are gone, he can't do this, can't do that. Hopefully, I'm trying to show that that's not the case. I still do a lot of distancing games and I'm still trying to chip in.
"Every time I go out on that football pitch, I want to try and be the best player on the football pitch, no matter what position I'm playing.
"I might not be in the position at the minute where I think I can produce my best performances, but I'm out there and whatever position I have, I'll give 110 per cent and I want to be the best player."
