Jorgen Strand Larsen says a new deal at Wolves is “perfect” for him and now he can’t wait to get back on the pitch and help turn the Old Gold’s season around.
Speculation around the striker’s future was ended when he put pen to paper on a new five-year deal at Molineux and, having missed the past two matches due to injury, is eyeing a return to action against Leeds United on Saturday.
Strand Larsen’s two goals this season came in the Carabao Cup, and now he’s hungry to get off the mark in the Premier League against Leeds, both personally and in terms of points for the team, having loved his time at the club so far.
On signing fresh terms
“It’s obviously very good. They’ve been a few busy weeks, with a lot going on, but the most important thing for me is to come back to the pitch. I’ve signed a new deal, more years at Wolves, which is perfect for me – the club’s happy, I’m happy myself, so I’m ready to get back on the pitch now.
“It’s been amazing. My first year in the Premier League and Wolverhampton, you always wonder how it’ll go. We stayed up, even though we struggled through the season, and hopefully we can avoid that this year, but I learned a lot from last season, and I’ll take that into this season.”
On looking to improve on 14 goals
“The most important thing is that I have a good connection with my teammates. Obviously, a few of them left in the summer, big players, but we brought in new, good players. We just need to find good connections and it will obviously take a few games, but we’re making progress every day. Now I’m back training, so it feels good and hopefully we can turn this bad start into something good.”
On putting the speculation behind him
“Everyone in football has goals and dreams in their life, to make bigger steps. I’ve been incredibly happy here at Wolves, so it was tricky, but now I’m going to stay happy here. Signing a new deal shows that my commitment is going to be here for the next years.
“I’m happy here, I love all my friends and teammates, the fans are amazing, and we just want to make it a better season than last year. We need to start winning and get out of the bad start we had. A win against Leeds would change everything, and that’s what we’re going to aim for.”
On missing recent weeks due to injury
“They’ve been a few tough weeks mentally and physically. I got the injury from a little kick, and it was worse than we thought which was annoying. It’s such a small part of your body which causes so much pain, it’s getting better, so we’ll see how many minutes I can contribute over the weekend, but hopefully as many as possible.
“It gives me a smile on my face [being back]. Many people have seen me up and down the past few days, everyone wants to be on the pitch, and they know how happy I am when I’m on the pitch, scoring goals, like against West Ham in the cup. That’s what we need to create this year because Molineux is amazing, and as players we need to build a strong team and a good atmosphere to make sure we have the whole city and ground with us every time we play at home and make it a tough spot for people to come.”
On returning for a big game
“It’s massive. Obviously, every game in the ‘Prem’ is tough, but there’s a difference between playing at home and a Champions League team away, so it’s a good opportunity for us to take three points. It’s not going to be easy, they’re a tough team, every team in the Premier League is tough, but at home we need to start taking points.”
