Darren McQueen doubled his tally for the season this afternoon and already has his sights set on more goals as he feels he’s adapting well to the higher standard of football.
“My goal target was 20,” he told Kent Messenger’s Matthew Panting and the Fleet’s Charles Webster, “but when you come off the bench it’s a bit harder. To be fair, 20’s a little boundary but if I can higher than that, all good. It’s an amazing club. Obviously the level is higher than what I was playing at but scoring goals is scoring goals and that’s what I’m used to.”
And the striker wasn’t ruffled by his one-on-one miss with Sudbury goalkeeper Marcus Garnham, taking only 60 seconds to make amends with his first of two goals. “I think I should have had one in the first half and then again in the second,” McQueen said. “But the lads keep saying to me just keep going and I got my rewards. I should have had four but I’m glad to get the two goals and man of the match.”
Having scored most of his goals from out wide while playing for Maldon & Tiptree last season, the former Ipswich youngster is revelling in his more direct role up front. “The way I play, I like to be in and around the box so when I saw Kedwell cut it back, I thought I need to be in there. I managed to get my head over it and kept it low. Before I came here I preferred playing out wide but with this system, and I’ve got better players here so with the balls in behind, they find me, I definitely prefer playing up front. It’s great [playing with Danny Kedwell]. Nine times out of ten you know he’s going to win the flick-ons, so you just have to gamble really and anticipate.”
With McQueen’s status at the Fleet in 2016/17 officially a season-long loan, has he given any thought to a longer-term stay at Stonebridge Road. “If I’m doing well here, it would be good to stay,” McQueen said. “But that’s out of my hands. I do like the club, I like the football, it’s a good atmosphere. The manager said at half-time we need to be more clinical in front of goal and everyone took their chances. I think I’ve put myself on a good platform to be playing but we’ll just see what happens. He brought me in to score goals and he saw what I did last season so I just want to score goals, help the team and improve myself at this level.”
Listen to the full interview below.
https://soundcloud.com/eufcofficial/darren-mcqueen-v-afc-sudbury
