MATT TUBBS accepts in an ideal world he wouldn't be a Non-League player again – but laughed off suggestions he's only returned for a pay day.
Well-backed Eastleigh have signed the Portsmouth striker on loan for the rest of the season. He made a losing debut last Tuesday night having just met his team-mates as they set off for Kidderminster Harriers.
Tubbs is widely seen as one of the best finishers outside of the Championship but his face just didn't fit at Fratton Park.
Honest
Tubbs says he would rather still be a Football League player but after Pompey put the blocks on him joining any club with a sniff of promotion ambition in League Two, his hands were tied.
And that doesn't mean he has jumped on the gravy train at Eastleigh as the Spitfires look to recover from poor form to get their play-off push back on track.
Tubbs told The NLP: “I'm on the same money as I was at Portsmouth so I don't know why people have the impression I have managed to get a pay rise!
“I did the graft to get to where I got to and to play in front of so many people. Every Non-League player coming through wants to play in the League for a big club, ask any of them. Dropping out wasn't part of the plan but that's where we're at with it.
“I'm here to play football not for the money. My chances were limited there, the manager (Paul Cook) said I just didn't suit the system. I remember, I scored three goals in three games when he called me and told me I could move on. It was hard to take.
Frustrating
“I was the top scorer in League Two last year and all of a sudden I can't even get on the bench. I had spent some time out with a foot injury but the last time I played was three-and-a-half months ago, and that wasn't even a start.
“It was quite frustrating. I worked out in eight games I scored five goals – I'm not really sure what else I could have done.
“With all respect to Eastleigh, the options of where I could have gone were made limited. I was told in no uncertain terms I wouldn't be allowed to leave for any club who had a chance in League Two so I find myself back. I kind of understand their point of view but it's still hard to take.
“I just want to get my game back on track and it's great to be somewhere where the team is fighting for promotion rather than battling for nothing. It felt great to be back on the pitch on Tuesday even though we lost 3-2.”
Tubbs, a Conference champion with Crawley in 2011 and a back-to-back promotion winner at Salisbury in 2006 and 2007, is back with old friends.
The 31-year-old, who still has another 16 months to run on his Portsmouth contract, added: “It wasn't ideal meeting my new team-mates on the way up to the game on Tuesday but I already knew a lot of them so there was no awkwardness.
“Toddy (Chris Todd, Eastleigh manager) I played with for a long time at Salisbury and that's why I was so happy to sign here. It wasn't the start I wanted to make but Kidderminster didn't look like a team at the bottom of the table.”
