by Julie Kissick
IT TAKES a certain mental toughness to bounce back from a sending off on your debut – as Courtney Baker-Richardson knows.
He got his first Championship goal in a Swans shirt yesterday, just four weeks after seeing red at Millwall.
And the 22-year-old who was playing non-league football with Leamington FC in 2016 is confident it won’t be his last.
“Very special (day). It should have been at Millwall, but we’ll let that one go,” he joked after his side’s 3-0 win against Queens Park Rangers.
“I’m just happy to get on the scoresheet with my first Championship goal. Hopefully many more to come.
“I told everyone I’d be back. I dusted myself off from there. There’s been a lot of sleepless nights, I’m not going to lie. Only four minutes on the pitch, it’s not a good reflection on myself and what I do on the pitch.”
What a win today! The lads was class and the fans absolute different gravy! đŻđ„â€ïž Words canât describe how good that felt! Buzzing to get my first champ and @SwansOfficial senior goal, n to last longer then 4 mins!đ€§ Hopefully many more games n goals to come! pic.twitter.com/xCY4m9YYDm
— Courtney B-R(C-Raww) (@courts_B_R) September 29, 2018
The fact that he got a goal, and could have netted two more, tells you all you need to know about Baker-Richardson.
He is confident that the red card incident was a lesson he has learned from and is grateful for the chance to redeem himself so quickly.
“I appreciate the gaffer putting his faith back in me,” he said.
“I spent three years in the lower leagues and a lot of managers in the lower leagues said I wasn’t good enough. Every time I told them: ‘Alright, watch this’.
“So whenever someone says you can’t do it, that just motivates me to go prove them wrong. I’m a person who takes great motivation from people who doubt me.”
Manager Graham Potter clearly isn’t a doubter. He praised Baker-Richardson for his ability to bounce back.
“It’s a better day than he had the last time he played, that’s for sure!
“I just said to him ‘make sure you last longer than five minutes and then we’ll be happy’.
“He has got attributes that we haven’t probably got in the group. He is a young player and he’s desperate to do well and, if he makes a mistake, he will learn from it.
“He’s a good lad. He’s not a shy retiring character, that’s for sure. So, he can deal with it. I’m just pleased for him because he played his role in the team today.”
From villain to hero in one game is quite a transition, but Baker-Richardson has no intention of spending too long savouring the moment.
“Every young boyâs dream is to play in the Premier League. If we can manage to get back into the Premier League under Graham Potter with this squad, it will be one of the best moments in (Swansea’s) history.
“A lot of big players have left (this club) and weâve come with a young squad into the Championship. We donât look like weâre going to go down. From our aspect, we donât look like weâre going to lose a game. We just think âwin, win, win, win, winâ.
“The energy in the camp is very good. If we can get in the play-off positions or above that, see where we can go from there. It’s a dream come true.”
