THE PAT CONTROLLER
Ash: My mate Roberts’ Celtic success meant I couldn’t say no to Jambos
MANCHESTER CITY defender Ashley Smith-Brown admits he signed for Hearts after seeing team-mate Patrick Roberts star for Celtic.
The left-back has signed a one-year loan deal with the Jambos and hopes to leave the same sort of mark on the SPFL Premiership as Roberts did.
The winger helped the Hoops to an Invincible Treble last season and the 21-year-old admitted seeing his pal thrive north of the border influenced his decision to pitch up in Gorgie.
Smith-Brown said: “I played with Patrick at England youth levels before he went to City. He was in the first team for a bit and I was in the Under-23s.
“He has gone on to achieve good things with Celtic and his success is a great reason for me to come up here and give Scottish football a try.
“I was keeping tabs on what Pat was doing and knew he was making a name for himself in Scotland.
“So I thought this was a good league with good recognition after what he had done and hopefully I can do something similar. Seeing him do so well certainly influenced my decision.
“I played with Pat in the Euro qualifiers with England and he was playing in the team a year above his age group.
“But he was still one of our main players, skilful and a real threat. I’m just glad he has left Celtic now!”
Smith-Brown reckons a stint in the Scottish game can also help him develop his physical attributes.
He is happy to be taken out of his comfort zone again after gaining promotion to the Dutch top flight with NAC Breda via the play-offs.
And he reckons playing in the pressure cooker of a promotion race in Holland can stand him in good stead for the rigorous demands of the Premiership.
He said: “It will be a different challenge playing up here. It will definitely be more physical and that is a part of my game I need to improve on. I have been told the Scottish Premiership would be a good league for me to work on the physical side of my game. Hearts are a good club who play with wing-backs so that should be a decent fit for me.
“I wanted to come here and City felt this was the right move so both parties are happy.
“I thought it would be good to go abroad and get a taste of a different style of football for my first loan period and playing in Holland was really good.
“NAC Breda won promotion to the Dutch top flight in the play-offs. There was a big party and the scenes were crazy – they should never have been in that league anyway.
“There was a real expectation on NAC to get promoted last season and we got there in the end which will stand me in good stead at Hearts.
“I have played under pressure before so it’s nothing new to me. I understand the demands of the club.”
Smith-Brown added he can’t wait to sample the delights of the Edinburgh derby. He said: “I have only heard good things about the Hearts-Hibs games. I hope I get some match time in them and crack on from there.
“There weren’t any derbies in my time in Holland as our local rivals were in the top league so I am looking forward to playing against Hibs.”
Smith-Brown has trained with plenty of superstars at the Etihad and still has ambitions to force his way into Pep Guardiola’s first-team plans once he returns from Tynecastle.
He said: “I trained with the senior boys a few times before Pep’s arrival. It was good to be alongside the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Gael Clichy who plays in my own position.
“They are all top players as they make few mistakes and their decision-making is second to none.
“I still believe I can break into the City first team. If you don’t have that belief there is really no point in being there.
“It is always tough to break into any top-level first-team but you have to believe in yourself.”