Sam Gallagher bounces back with Blackburn as the Southampton loan star aims to emulate Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw
Teen striker bids to live up to Saints' production line as he thrives this season after misfiring for MK Dons last term
SAM GALLAGHER knows there is more attention on him being from Southampton than if he were at any other club.
The Saints academy has been prolific in the last decade, producing the likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw.
So eyebrows were raised when Gallagher, who broke into the Saints first-team at 18 and was tipped for a bright future, flopped on loan at MK Dons last season.
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He did not score in 15 appearances for the Dons and was sent packing back to his parent club in January.
It was a rare failure from an academy with unmatched success, perhaps. A player, for once, wrongly-judged to be better than he was, maybe.
Not so. Gallagher has rammed those claims down the doubters’ throats this term with an impressive loan at another struggling Championship side in Blackburn.
The 21-year-old has hit seven goals already, including a brilliant volley against Wolves which was reminiscent of another ex-Saints and Rovers striker, Alan Shearer.
And the youngster explained to SunSport how he is using his Dons disappointment to his advantage.
Gallagher said: “There might be a slight bit more attention on me because of the reputation Southampton has.
“With MK Dons being my first loan, after I had a couple of injuries the year before, there were a lot of changes that year and it was a tough one for me personally.
“I didn’t let it hold me back and decided to come out on loan again and I’m glad I’ve come here.
“Looking back at it, I use it as a learning curve and look at what I did at MK Dons and try to do it a bit differently at Blackburn.
“It was a case of growing up and being aware of what happens in the Championship. It took a bit of adapting to.
“I’ve used a bad experience as a good experience and I think it’s really helped me.”
It certainly has helped Blackburn, who suffered an awful start to the campaign but have improved massively in recent weeks.
Performances have been on the up under Owen Coyle for a while and results have started to turn, most notably the shock 1-0 win at Newcastle last month.
They have taken seven points from three games to move out of the drop zone.
And Coyle will be looking to move further clear with a win at Preston today.
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Gallagher insisted the team have never considered the possibility they could go down, despite many pundits tipping them to do so.
He said: “We had a terrible start but we don’t feel in ourselves like a team that deserves to be so far down in the table.
"I wouldn’t say there were any worries or doubts in any of the players’ or manager’s minds of relegation.
“We’ve proved we can perform at bigger stadiums and against bigger teams and have shown we can deal with anyone in the league.
“It’s just a case of doing it week in, week out.
“I’ve definitely been enjoying it so far and looking to stay for the rest of the season.”
The 6ft 4ins forward, who idolised Didier Drogba as a kid, is keen to prove his worth at Ewood Park so he can can get another shot at St Mary’s.
He added: “Hopefully I’ll have a good season and come back next season and be in with a chance. That’s the aim.
“I just need to keep my head down and try to keep improving as much as I can.”
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