AFC Bournemouth
After 37 appearances last season, Jack Stacey has had to be more patient so far in 2021/22, on Saturday seizing his chance and showing his importance to the team.
With Adam Smith missing, the door opened for Stacey and within 21 minutes a typically surging run was rewarded by Ryan Christie’s pass and the right-back’s delicious first-time cross was gobbled up by Jamal Lowe for his first Cherries goal.
The opener set the visitors on their way.
Three points, a clean sheet and a place back at the top of the Championship table was theirs by teatime.
A day later and Stacey name was not just in the assist column but also in the Sky Bet Championship team of the week.
He sat down with afcb.co.uk to talk about his return to the starting line-up, how he set about getting there and his always explosive attacking threat.
"I like to pride to pride myself on creating chances for team-mates, it was a good ball in and a good finish as well,” he began.
Love it, @jackstacey_ 👏👏 https://t.co/XfzQDHGTuK
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) October 17, 2021
"I got quite a few messages all coming in at the same time on Sunday night so I knew something must have happened, getting named in team of the week is a by-product of going onto the pitch and performing – it's not something that I aim to do but it's never a bad thing to get recognised from outside the club.
"Nigel Pearson said after the game something along the lines of he wasn't able to judge his own team because the Bournemouth performance was so good.
"Without reading too much into that I think that sums it up pretty well. That's just one game, we played very well and now we need to take that into Stoke.”
Coming just days after David Brooks’ diagnosis of Hodgkin Lymphoma, Stacey spoke of the emotional day at Ashton Gate and the togetherness it has further promoted in the dressing room.
"It was a really hard week for us last week with the Brooksy news but if anything I think that's brought us all closer,” he said.
"You saw with the warm-up tops and the celebrations, and we were in the group chat with Brooksy after the game. It's brought us closer and the team spirit is really high at the moment."
A pre-season injury dented Stacey’s plans for a flying start of the campaign, with a tight and successful team unit then needing to be cracked in the hunt for minutes once he returned.
After having to show patience, the full-back spoke about retaining the belief and readiness to perform at a high level when the window of opportunity did present itself.
"I was trying to come back into a team that's winning so I couldn't really have any complaints,” he said. “We were playing so well as a team that the opportunity wasn't there at that moment.
"For me, the confidence comes from knowing you've done everything to be fully prepared for that moment.
"If I hadn't been keeping the standards up in training, then I might get into the team and feel not quite ready, but if you do everything then you're at 100 per cent going into the game because you've done those things.
"Every player in the squad wants to be on the pitch, that's not a negative thing, it's a positive because that spurs the standards in the training and spurs the players on the pitch to push on and keep their places.
"That sort of competition in the squad is healthy and I've been trying to provide that.
"I'm sure there are techniques for making sure the coaches spot you, but for me time on the training pitch is the best way to catch the manager's eye and even if the team keep winning and he can't change it he has to know that he has the players there ready.
"It's not just me, there are great players in our squad who have not been playing and the standards in training have always been high. The manager knows that if he does need to call on any of us we can go in and perform.
"You saw that with Gav (Kilkenny) and Jamal (Lowe) at the weekend, and myself as well.”
With attentions now solely on Tuesday evening’s match at the bet365 Stadium, another opportunity is on the horizon for Stacey and his team-mates.
A clean sheet would make for a half dozen successive shut outs away from home, a streak that started at Hull City in August and which would be a club record if extended in the Potteries.
"If we can get six in a row that would be great,” he said. “I fancy us to score as well so that would mean a win – though if we don't keep a clean sheet and we still win I'll be just as happy.
"It's another thing that's a by-product of the way we train, the way we play and as a defender you go into every game looking for a clean sheet, though it doesn't always pan out that way.
"You have to think about the process rather than the outcome, so you focus on everything we've done in training, making sure that the back four are tight as a unit.”
