THE gamble paid off for Jon Stead!

Carl Marston

THE gamble paid off for Jon Stead!

Town's marksman netted his first goal of the season to earn Roy Keane's men their eighth draw, at Plymouth on Saturday, thanks to his neat interception of Gary Sawyer's poor back pass.

“I could see that he was shaping to play the ball back, so I took a gamble,” revealed Stead.

“I took two or three strides forward, basically because I wanted to block the pass. But it was a big bonus that the gamble paid off.

“I still had a bit to do, especially as their keeper came out so far. But that gave me the chance to move to the side. I gave myself a decent enough angle to score,” added Stead.

Town boss Keane is now hoping that Stead can solve his team's goal-scoring problems. At present, Town's four recognised strikers - Jon Walters, Pablo Counago, Tamas Priskin and Stead - have managed just seven league goals between them.

“Steady's done it before. He's scored a spate of goals in a short space of time, and hopefully he can do it again,” said Keane.

“The goal should do wonders for his confidence. He also scored a couple of goals for the Reserves in midweek, so I guarantee that he'll tell you that he's had a good week.

“He's definitely going to play a big part this season.”