New signing Darius Henderson has said that he’s still ‘hungry for success’ after more than 15 years as a professional footballer.
The 34-year-old striker put pen-to-paper on a deal at One Call Stadium earlier today following positive talks with manager Adam Murray and chairman John Radford.
And the frontman says that his hunger to succeed is still as raw as it was when he first turned professional for Reading in 2000.
“For me personally, I’d like to reiterate that I am as hungry as I was 10/15 years ago, that’s never changed. I’m coming here to be a part of a winning team and I’m hungry for success, still, and I’m looking forward to it,” Henderson said.
“I’ve said it on many occasions, speaking to the manager and the chairman, that I am hungry for success and when I join the lads, tomorrow I believe, it’s hard work and that’s how I’ve always approached football and the hard work has to be done.”
The experienced forward has been without a club since leaving Coventry City at the end of the 2015/16 season, but Henderson has been working hard to stay as fit as possible.
“Having not had a pre-season I’ve done what I can. [I’m] maybe a little bit behind the lads that have been in six weeks and training every day and so on, but in terms of health and fitness, I’m in a good place.
“I think the fundamentals of lifestyle have to be correct and like I said to the manager earlier, I’m as fit as I was ten years ago so I’m just looking forward to get going and see what the season brings.
“I’m going to obviously be sitting down with the manager and talking about the next few weeks in terms of a programme as I have missed pre-season.”
With the 2016/17 season just three days away, the former Watford striker is looking forward to getting his first taste of Sky Bet League Two.
“I think [it’s] the same in any league – it’s going to be tough. If we’re going to get promoted, we’re going to have to have a good team spirit and everyone’s got to perform extremely well and if we can do that, we’ve got a chance.
“There’s many variables to successful and unsuccessful teams so speaking to the manager, the boys that are here already are raring to go and I’m just looking forward to meeting them and being a part of that.”
Supporters can view Darius Henderson’s first interview after signing at One Call Stadium on Stags PlayerHD.
