Troy Deeney: Forest Green striker 'loving' proving people wrong after dropping to League Two
- Published
Troy Deeney has scored three goals for Forest Green since signing in August
Forest Green striker Troy Deeney says he is "loving proving everyone wrong" after dropping down to League Two.
The former Watford and Birmingham captain signed in August and has played 12 league games, scoring three goals.
He is long-time friends with head coach David Horseman, who worked in the Watford academy, and joined Rovers as a player-coach.
"You can't come out and play and get self-motivated if you don't love it," Deeney told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
"And that's why I said what I said when I signed. For the people who have been at a higher level you need to find your purpose again, and that's what this has been doing.
"I've been loving the coaching, loving the playing, but it's also loving proving everyone wrong because I'm fat and old and should have called it a day."
The 35-year-old has played at all levels across English football, although his previous spell in League Two was brief as he made one appearance for Walsall in 2007 when he turned professional.
He spent more than a decade with Watford and twice won promotion to the Premier League with the club before joining hometown side Birmingham in 2021.
Forest Green beat Crawley on Saturday for their fourth win of the campaign, to move out of the bottom two.
"We've got to find that balance between playing good, exciting football, but actually winning games," Deeney said.
"I've looked at the stats - December last year was the last time we won back-to-back games in the league.
"We've got to change that. We've got to get used to winning ugly and if we're 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go there's no shame in putting it in the corner and wasting time and killing the game off when you get the chance."
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