Pearce would welcome return
Norwich loan defender Alex Pearce yesterday refused to rule out an extended Norfolk tour of duty.The Reading centre half admitted he is loving life at Carrow Road and revealed he could be tempted to return next season.
By PADDY DAVITT
Norwich loan defender Alex Pearce yesterday refused to rule out an extended Norfolk tour of duty.
The Reading centre half admitted he is loving life at Carrow Road and revealed he could be tempted to return next season.
Pearce chalked up his seventh appearance for the Canaries as a second half substitute for Gary Doherty in City's 5-1 Colchester romp.
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“I've been here a while now and I haven't managed to get home yet,” said the Scottish youth international. “I'm really enjoying it. It's important when you go out on loan to be settled off the pitch and this is a lovely area. The city's nice and the people have been really nice as well. We've got a great set of lads here who helped me settle in straight away.
“This has been a great experience and who knows what could happen in football. If I'm not involved with Reading I could end up back here because I've really loved my time.”
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The 19-year-old insists Steve Coppell can expect a vastly improved player when he returns in the summer after his Norwich finishing school.
“Definitely,” he said. “It's the best level I've played out in terms of series of games so I will go back to Reading a better player. This is my third spell after being out on loan at Bournemouth and Northampton in League One. The tempo of play is much higher than that division and the quality of player is better as well. It's gone well for me. I came here to play a lot of games and I've managed to do that but now I need to kick on.”
Pearce believes Glenn Roeder's men need to pocket one more win to banish lingering relegation fears.
“That would put us on 52 points and I think would be a safe target,” he said. “But that's just me, my personal opinion. It might even be less as there's a lot of sides down there fighting it out. Our aim right now is to get as many good results as we can. If we keep picking up points then we don't really need to worry about what any other teams are doing.
“Colchester was a massive boost for us - not just in terms of the amount of goals but the confidence and belief because you don't really want to get dragged into it. To actually score four and five is great for us.”
Pearce is adamant City's mauling of the relegation haunted Us is the perfect warm up for a stiffer test this weekend at title chasing Bristol City.
“When you come off a big win like that then the mental attitude and approach is 'bring it on',” he said. “We know it's not the easiest place to go. They are at home and everyone connected with their club is hoping they are going up to the Prem. That brings with it pressure. We are in the bottom half looking up at them so the onus is on Bristol to come out and get a result.”
