TUBBS ADDS TO THE FREAR FACTOR
ELLIOTT FREAR is licking his lips at the thought of providing the ammunition for Forest Green Rovers’ marquee summer signing Matt Tubbs.
The proven hitman – who scored 33 goals to help fire Crawley to the Conference title in 2011 – has signed a one-year deal as boss Mark Cooper assembles an impressive frontline.
Tubbs, 31, joins other Cooper recruits Rhys Murphy and Christian Doidge in attack as Rovers look to finally get up after two seasons of play-off heartache. Cooper is also keen to add veteran midfielder Wade Elliott, 37, who has been training with Rovers, to his squad.
Former England C winger Frear, pictured inset, who set up 19 goals last season and was named in the National League team of the year, says the new arrivals have lifted the squad.
“One of my best mates, Mikey Harris, is really good friends with Matt Tubbs and everyone knows he scores hatfuls of goals wherever he goes,” Frear told The NLP. “His goal record speaks for itself.All the strikers the gaffer has brought in offer something different. It’s exciting. My role this year is a little bit different to last year. I’m going to get a bit more of the ball out wide and I’ll be aiming to put the ball in the danger zone.With the quality strikers we’ve got , they’re going to be there.
Quality
“We’re widening the pitch as well. It’s massive now. Before, it felt like when you were out wide everyone was on you. Hopefully I can get some more space and keep delivering those balls in the box.
“The gaffer’s brought in League One and League Two players, plus the players who have come in from lower down also look really sharp.
“He’s made us even stronger than last year and on paper we had one of the best teams in the league. I know we’re going to be favourites, but we’ve favourites every year so we’ve got to deal with it.”
Rovers were one step away from the Football League last season only to fall at the last hurdle when they lost the promotion final to Grimsby Town.
And Frear says the memory of watching the Mariners climb the famous Wembley steps to lift the trophy is fuelling his fire.
“It’s been frustrating to miss out in the play-offs these last two years,” he said. “But it’s one of those things where you bank it up and go again.
“Injuries cost us massively at Wembley. We lost Rob Sinclair the day before and Marcus Kelly was out too. It ruined my summer watching Grimsby lift the trophy. But all you can do is bottle it up and use it as motivation. We all felt we should have won the league so hopefully this year we can go one better.”