Chris Martin: Bristol City striker talks goals, adaptability and resilience

Chris Martin's goal tally for Bristol City is up to seven for the season after his double against Cardiff City

Chris Martin's two goals for Bristol City in the Severnside derby win over Cardiff City took his tally up to 104 career Championship goals so far.

While he might be a few short of the all-time record of 121 held by David Nugent, and recently equalled by Sheffield United's Billy Sharp, the 33-year-old Robins striker is one of the most prolific scorers in the league, sitting fifth on the all-time list.

Having good team-mates around him has been pivotal to that success in front of goal, Martin pointed out, but there is another factor that has proved equally as important.

"Trying to forget about the ones that you miss," Martin told BBC Sport.

"Having a bit of a short-term memory. Every striker misses a lot of chances, it's trying to put that to the back of your mind and make the runs.

"Have that persistence, continually getting in that position when things go wrong, when you haven't scored in five, 10 games, 15 games.

"I don't know what my longest drought is to be honest, but it would be a while. Just having that presence of mind to keep going really and sticking through."

League longevity

Martin is something of a journeyman in the EFL, having played for nine different clubs during his 15-year career, scoring 155 goals in all competitions.

He started out at Norwich City, and racked up 76 of his goals at Derby County. He joined Bristol City in 2020 and returned from a long-term calf injury to consistently start up front this season.

He has spent time on loan at Luton Town, Crystal Palace, Swindon Town, Reading, Fulham and Hull City, and the movement around teams, Martin said, has proved beneficial to his longevity at a high level.

Chris Martin enjoyed his most-prolific goal scoring period playing for Derby County

"I think I've been fortunate enough that during that time I've played for a lot of different managers, played in a lot of different teams and had lots of experiences," Martin said.

"I think you become a lot more well-rounded as a player and a person to be able to deal with the challenges.

"I guess trying to adapt and trying to improve all the time and learn as much as I possibly can. Every team I've been in, I probably learned something or assessed my game."

Focal point player

When Martin got his breakthrough at Norwich in 2007, aged 19, he played all over, appearing on both wings, as a number 10 or a second striker. He has since solidified his position into a traditional number nine.

"I've always had the ability to play with my back to goal, that's something I learned from quite a young age," he said.

But the Suffolk-born, 17-times capped Scotland international believes that searching for goal-scoring chances in and around the penalty box has not necessarily come naturally to him.

"I feel like some players have got really good timing in terms of being able to sniff chances out - I don't know if that's just me criticising myself, but I feel like that's something I've had to work on quite a lot in my career," he continued.

"Even now, we have sessions on ball-shooting, movement from crosses.

"We're working on it pretty much every day and when we're not working on it, I know I speak for quite a lot of the lads, we'll be watching videos of other players doing it, even getting videos of themselves training and games trying to assess what they're doing well, what they're doing poorly, what they want to improve on."

Chris Martin has started 24 Championship matches so far for Bristol City this season

Time to reflect

At Bristol City, Martin's tally is up to seven league goals for the season, although he admitted there was "room for improvement" in his own performances as the Robins have struggled for consistency.

Football can be fickle. Fans can turn on players just as quickly as they fall in love with them. Indeed, following the win over Cardiff, Robins manager Nigel Pearson pointed out how Martin "comes in for some criticism".

Having resilience is an important part of enduring the highs and lows that come with the territory of the leagues.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend it's all been a bit of a cakewalk and stuff. I think that's a huge thing, your mental strength," Martin said.

"And to be able to honestly reflect on where you're at and how things are going is important too. You can be kind of blinkered by the good times and the bad, just as much as you can start believing in your own hype when things go well, you can stop putting the work in that got you there.

"Equally, when things are going bad, you think that you can never remember when it was good."

Away from the pitch, Martin became an ambassador for a mental health charity in Wiltshire this winter, to support and promote the benefits of sport on mental wellbeing, a charity that resonated with him.

"In terms of being an athlete, it's something that's really important to always work on, and try to reflect, self-reflect. It's important to understand if you need help, which I've been fortunate to with friends, family who have been there for me. I've never really gotten into a situation where it's got too much for me."

Learning from experience and being able to adapt have all been valuable to Martin's career, but having confidence in your ability is just as crucial too.

"I think you need a certain amount of confidence and self-belief to have any sort of career in the game," he said.

"Whether it be for a few years or whether it be something which I've managed to do for 15 odd years, and hopefully a few more yet."