Carew: I feel at home

Stoke City`s on-loan striker John Carew has described his current base at the Britannia Stadium like being at home.

Carew, who`s bigger than me and you, joined the Potters on loan from Aston Villa during the January transfer window and has since scored his second goal wearing the red and white strip during the 3-0 thrashing Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday. Stoke now face either West Ham United or Burnley in the quarter-final.

Speaking of his delight about being at Stoke, the Norwegian told the official site: ‘Everything is going fantastically for me personally and for the football club.

‘I feel at home here, the supporters have been fantastic with me and all of the players, management and everyone else at the club have made me feel unbelievably welcome.”

Carew kick-started the 3 goal flurry within the first half against the Seagulls and was pleased with his performance: ‘I was obviously very happy to get a goal, but for me it is about looking forward now and I just want to make sure that I keep doing well for the club and keep doing what the manager and the supporters expect of me.’

Carew reached Wembley on two occasions with Aston Villa last season, but suffered defeat in both the FA Cup semi-final and League Cup final. But John has high hopes for Stoke’s chances this year: ‘The club is one game away from an appearance at Wembley and to get there would be a fantastic achievement,’ he said.

‘I got there twice with Aston Villa last season, so I would love to get there this year – that would be wonderful.’

Hopefully he will get that chance but he and the rest of the team will have to pull it out of the back when the quarter-finals come to the Britannia Stadium. But whatever happens, it`s good to hear that John Carew is enjoying his football here but will he want to move here on a more permanent basis? Time will tell.