ASHLEY CHAMBERS says Nuneaton Town are putting a smile back on his face.
The 27-year-old is on loan with Tommy Wright's side after joining from League Two side Grimsby Town for the rest of the season.
Chambers – who scored for York City in the play-off final as the Minstermen completed a promotion and FA Trophy double in 2012 – has already been showing his quality with seven goals in his first 11 games.
The former York City, Cambridge United and Dagenham & Redbridge attacker is out of contract at Grimsby this summer.
Despite initially playing games when new Mariners boss Marcus Bignot came in, injury and the boss' desire to add his own players meant he found himself out of favour.
But the opportunity to play closer to home and start enjoying his football again was a big motivation in his Boro move – so has he got that grin back?
Consistency
“Not quite as wide as when I scored at Wembley but I'm getting there,” Chambers joked. “Me and Tommy go way back. We were at Leicester City and grew up playing together in the academy and reserve teams.
“We've always kept in touch, I went to his wedding, and I played with him at Grimsby when I was on loan there previously.
“It just ticked all the boxes for me. It's so close to home – I've been travelling to and from Leicester for three or four years now and not seeing my kids as much was starting to grind down on me.
“It's an opportunity to enjoy family life and football again because I was starting to get frustrated.
“I've got back to that now, I'm on a hot streak at the moment, and then I'll see what happens in the summer.
“I still want to be play as high as I can, I'm relatively young, but I'm not going to get too caught up on that yet, what will be, will be. It's always been the case with me that if I play with a smile, I play my best football. That's starting to come to light.”
Since taking over from Kevin Wilson in November, Wright has eased Boro away from the relegation zone.
“We're playing some good football at the moment, getting some decent results and it's clear to see there are some really good players at the club,” Chambers said.
“They've been unfortunate at higher clubs but they're good. It's about consistency and that's why we're at this level because, at the moment, it's not as good as lads higher up. But it's been enjoyable. It's humbling. It's difficult to explain, but I'm just going there to play football because I want to.”
