Kenwyne Jones said it will be an emotional return to Hillsbrough tomorrow when Saints line up against Sheffield Wednesday.
The Trinidad and Tobago international spent a prolific three month spell on loan there last season, powering them up the table with seven goals in seven games.
With James Beattie, Kevin Phillips and Peter Crouch dominating the pecking order on the south coast Jones’ opportunities at Saints were limited at the start of his career in England. But when Wednesday offered him a taste of first team football the 20-year old front-man proved his hunger for the game — giving the Yorkshire Club’s promotion push a huge boost in the process.
When he lines up against Paul Sturrock’s team in a Saints shirt tomorrow Jones will be totally focused on a victory for his own side - but he admitted that it would be a strange feeling if he does score.
“It will be an emotional time for me to go back to Sheffield Wednesday because I think I did well for them and they did well for me,” he explained.
“It would be a bit of a muted celebration if I did score because I have a lot of respect for them, but at the moment I am playing for Southampton so I am the enemy I suppose.
“It is a great place to play football though and I am looking forward to it.
“That was my first real chance to play league football and I think I took it pretty well.
“The fans up there looked after me and the club on the whole looked after me so I am grateful to them for that.”
But as Jones makes the journey up the M6 again he admitted there was an eerie similarity to the circumstances of his first journey to Hillsbrough.
He explained: “When I went up there on loan I had just scored my first goal in Southampton for the reserves and I went up there enthusiastic to play and to show what I had and I think I went there with a bag full of confidence.”
That confidence kick-started his goal-a-game scoring spree and with Harry Redknapp looking for his first victory this season a similar return would be a huge boost for his side. Having just scored his first senior goal for the Club at Luton on Tuesday night could lightening strike twice in the same place?
“You can never say what is going to happen in football — but all I know is that I want to do as well as I can for the team and hopefully we can start picking up results,” smiled Jones.
“At the moment I think it is just a case of getting that first win under out belts.
“I don’t think that in our last two games we had a really bad performance, it was just that we weren’t on the winning end of things so I hope that changes very soon.
“The first two games of the Championship season have definitely made us realise that we have got a fight to get out of this league.
“We have got forty something games to go and it is going to be a fight and if we don’t do well we haven’t got a chance.
“Once the team gets rolling though and we get that cohesion that we need and team spirit and everything I think the goals will start to come from all different angles.”