Striker emphasises the importance of the squad
Four-goal hero Tom Pope was obviously more than please to show his former club just what they were missing out on and reckons he has never had a better day.
He said: “I’ve had a few decent performances and score a few vital goals, but I think especially with it being against Rotherham, it adds a bit of spice to it. It’s probably the best day of my footballing career so far.
“It would have added a bit more if the right person was there, but he isn’t. I had a lot of stick from the fans during my time there.
“I had always struggled with injuries, which is something I had never done before, so I know for a fact that Rotherham never saw the best of me.
“I felt that they gave me a bit too much stick, so it was nice to score and show them what they were missing out on.”
Pope was quick to point out that despite his four-goal haul, it was a team performance that tore the Millers apart on Saturday.
“I don’t think it is just me, if you look at the whole first team squad and look at the first forty minutes especially, it was like something I have never seen before.
“I think every single one of our players, to a man, was unbelievable. Instead of being four-nil up and just seeing half time out we carried on going gung-ho and got caught with a sucker punch.
“There are still a lot of things we have got to learn, the gaffer told us at half time that we can’t afford to let things like that happen, but in the end it was a great performance and a great victory against probably the favourites come the end of the season.”
The tight-knit squad all know they have a part to play this season, regardless who is in the starting eleven, and no one player is any more important to the next in the gradn scheme of things.
Pope continued: “There are no ‘big-time-Charlies’, we are all in it together, we all grind, we all graft and it is showing. The gaffer ran us through our paces in pre-season and for half an hour I don’t think they were fit enough to cope with us, just the sheer temp of the game.
“That is all down to the gaffer getting us physically in the right shape to start the season and keep producing results like that. It could be a good season for us.”