Cauley Woodrow is delighted to be facing former club Fulham tomorrow in the first game of a season in which he hopes to match his League One goal-scoring heroics.
The 24-year-old spent eight years with the London club, scoring 12 goals in 66 games, but was loaned out several times including to the Reds in August last year before the move was made permanent in January. Woodrow told the Chronicle: “My eyes lit up as soon as I saw we were playing them first. I was joking with some people I know there and saying ‘imagine if we got Fulham in the first game.’ When it actually happened I couldn’t believe it. It was quite surreal, but it’s exciting. I was there less than a year ago and now I am going to be playing against them.”
Asked if he felt he had something to prove to his former employers, Woodrow said: “I don’t think so. People at that club know what I am capable of but it was just the wrong timing and it was right for me to move on when I did to the right club in Barnsley. I still know people at Fulham so it will be good to see them but, when the match starts, I will just treat it like a normal game and try to carry on my form from last season.”
Woodrow was a key part of the Reds’ promotion last season, with his 19 goals and 36 appearances the most he has managed of either in a campaign in his career. He said: “I am hoping for a similar season to last season in terms of goals, and to play as much as I can. As a team, we want to show we can compete at this level. Staying up will be the first aim but hopefully we can do that then push even higher in the league.”
Woodrow is one of the most experienced players in an extremely young squad. He said: “We’re all really excited. We have come off the back of a very good season and we are full of confidence. It’s a new squad with a lot of new players. It will take time to gel and to figure out everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. But the lads are looking really, really good in training – we have a fit, strong squad with a lot of quality.”
