David McGoldrick has revealed how he had to take drastic action to rescue a career that seemed to be going nowhere fast just a few short years ago.

The Town striker, whose 27th birthday will coincide with next week’s trip to Charlton, was at the crossroads when he found it difficult to hold down a regular place at hometown club Nottingham Forest, who paid £1 million to sign him from Southampton in June 2009.

By the time his Forest contract expired last year McGoldrick had only managed 31 league starts during four years on the City Ground payroll and been loaned to Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry and then Town.

He recalled: “I remember the day I got a call from my agent to say a certain club wanted me. I won’t name them but they were at a much lower level than I am now. That told me I had to get myself going or I might never get back to a decent level again.

“I didn’t think I was playing to my potential and I knew I had to really knuckle down. Football is what I’ve always wanted to do and the older I was getting, the faster it was slipping away.

“I felt there was nothing else for it but to knuckle down and I felt I did that. I got my love back for the game and I got my confidence back too. I’m really enjoying it now.

“Anyone can drift out of the game. Right now there are a lot of very good players who are out of contract at the minute and without clubs. It’s not easy out there and I could have been one of them.

“I still could be in a few years because no one knows and you have to play for the present, which is what I’m doing at the minute.

“Things can change quite quickly in football but I have always believed in my ability. Even when things were not going well for me at Forest I had faith in myself and that things would improve.

“Something clicked at one stage of my career, before I went to Coventry, and I knew things were turning.

“I worked hard one summer and came back for the pre-season really fit and fresh, raring to go. I had been out for three or four months with a stress fracture in my back and that’s when I really realised how much I loved football and that I had to knuckle down.

“From then on things got better and I’m really grateful to be where I am at the minute.”

Photo: Action Images

truckertractorboy added 10:32 - Nov 21 Well said dids at least he dont try and blame everyone for wat seems was just a lack of form and passion for the game . Well at least we gained a very good player who cost us nothing .Thanks Nottingham Forest
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SouperJim added 10:42 - Nov 21 A good friend of mine is a Forest fan and says that McGoldrick was incredibly lazy during his time there and that is how the Forest fans remember him. I think his lack of pace and laid back style probably contributed to giving this impression but my friend also says his ability was always there for all to see. Sounds to me like Dids realised he needed to sort his act out just in the nick of time and the spell at Coventry was the turning point for him.

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NoCanariesAllowed added 12:55 - Nov 21 Respect to him for digging in and turning his career around. But I would hope he has learned a lesson from it all - I still question whether that summer interest from Leicester isn't playing on his mind, and understandable as it would be, he must not let himself be distracted by it. He has a chance to make it to the Premier League with Town and be a crucial part of our squad going forward. Not that I'm saying he would, but I'd hate to see him get distracted and slip back into those bad habits, or get pulled away prematurely by the bright lights of a current top flight club only for it to turn out like Forest all over again.

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Sugito added 15:02 - Nov 21 I wonder whether JET will ever have that moment when he realises his career is slipping away..
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theblueginger added 16:46 - Nov 21 Sugito well put. I must admit was was not overjoyed when he first signed, his form for us has shown the potential he always possesed. Lets not forget he was part of the same youth team as Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott-there was something there from a young age.
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