Goal-hungry Reid is feeling right at home with County
ALEX Reid seems to have found a home at Stockport County.
In the last four years the 25-year-old striker has been at eight clubs.
While with Fleetwood he had loan spells with Wrexham and Solihull Moors, then after a move to Stevenage he spent time with Fylde, Ebbsfleet and Dagenham & Redbridge.
But Reid is now thriving at Edgeley Park after signing a one-year deal at the start of the season as County bid to secure promotion from the National League.
His goal in the 2-0 win over Chesterfield on Saturday made it 14 this season.
“I’ve been pleased really. Coming to Stockport at the start of the season, I set myself the target of 20 goals a season,” Reid told M.E.N. Sport.
“I’m well on track. I’m just taking it game by game, I want to score as many as I can, help us win some games and then keep going from there.
“I was at Stevenage, not wanted there so a lot of the time I was floating here, there and everywhere on loan but you’re there for three months. Then you go back to Stevenage and they still don’t want to play you, so you go back on loan for three months.
“I’m on a one-year deal with Stockport now but I’ve come here and said I want a full season of playing.
“I’m loving my time here. As it stands, I’m happy and enjoying my time, I love the lads, the staff, the direction they are going in.
“I just want to get to my 20 goals for the season, get up the table, get promoted, hopefully, and see where we are.”
His partnership upfront with John Rooney, who has nine league goals, has been key to helping Stockport to fourth and well in the promotion picture.
But there is a contest between the two on the goal front.
“He takes all the penalties, all the free-kicks, so he’s got an advantage over me,” joked Reid.
“Honestly, as a team we want as many people scoring as possible, whether it’s me, Roones (Rooney), Beno (Richie Bennett), new strikers coming in, we’re looking to have three, four, five lads near the top of the charts to help us to win games.”
Despite it being less than a month since new manager Simon Rusk took over, the crammed fixture list has meant he’s already overseen eight matches.
However, Reid believes the lack of time to prepare in the demanding schedule hasn’t held Rusk back and the transition following Jim Gannon’s departure has been ‘smooth’.
He said: “I’ve had a few one-to-one’s with him and I really get on with him. It’s just been cracking on as normal because the main goal is to go up and get promoted, either automatically or through the playoffs.”
In a season in which Stockport have had a ‘special’ FA Cup run which was only brought to an end by Premier League West Ham, Reid looked back at the upsets they caused and his winning goal against League One Rochdale. He said: “It was brilliant, I think it was overshadowed by my mate John Rooney scoring from about 300 yards out, following in his brother’s (Wayne Rooney) footsteps!
“It was nice to go on a little cup run and play teams a few leagues above us.
“You go into those games with a lot less pressure because at the end of the day, when you’re playing teams like Rochdale, West Ham, the onus is on them to walk all over you. So, you go into those games with the shackles off.”
I wasn’t wanted at Stevenage so I was floating here, there and everywhere on loan County striker Alex Reid