Luton striker happy with his impact after scoring two in two for Woking
Forward on target against both Walton and Forest Green Rovers
Luton striker Joe Gbode has been happy with his impact at National League side Woking after making it two goals in his first two games for the Cards after signing on loan until the end of the season last month.
The 20-year-old had moved to Kingfield due to lack of first team opportunities at Kenilworth Road, as after moving to the Hatters from League Two outfit Gillingham in the summer, he struggled for game time at Kenilworth Road, making five appearances under previous boss Matt Bloomfield, but not featuring in a single League One squad since new manager Jack Wilshere took over in October.
He did play twice in the Vertu Trophy, but having already featured for two clubs in the Football League, with five outings for the Gills, it meant he couldn’t go to a fellow EFL side, and meant he had to either go abroad or drop down to non-league, which is what he opted to do, heading to Woking, was off the mark immediately when scoring in the 2-1 FA Trophy win at Walton & Hersham at the weekend.
Gbode then started a second game on Tuesday night against Forest Green Rovers, finding the net with a glancing header from a corner to make it back-to-back goals as the visitors led 2-1, although they conceded three times after the break to lose 4-2 against Robbie Savage’s promotion hopefuls. Speaking after his debut in the FA Trophy, and his first goal for his new side, the forward said: “I’m happy with the impact, especially coming into a new team. It’s always difficult, but I felt like I’ve settled in well and that’s helped me a lot.
"The manager has helped me to improve my game in the short time that I’ve been here so it’s been good so far. I’ve got experience of playing wide left, and I’ve always been told from a young age that when you’re playing out wide and the ball comes into the box you always have to be in there.
"The ball came in, it's not an easy finish because the ball was bouncing up and so I had to hit it first time and it came off well, so I’m happy with the goal. I feel like we could have killed the game off (against Walton & Hersham), especially in the first half. We had three or four chances, I feel like we took our foot off the gas second half as better teams will punish us for not taking our chances.”
Asked just why it was the Cards he chose to continue his season with, when he had plenty of other clubs in the same division looking to acquire his signature, Gbode continued: “In October the new manager comes in at Luton and obviously football’s like that, sometimes you play, sometimes you don't.
"It was tough and it was EFL rules that you can’t play for more than two teams in the season, so there were a lot of National League clubs that came in and when I watched Woking play against Hartlepool, that's what convinced me to come here. I watched a couple of other National League games, but watching Woking, I was very impressed with what I saw, so I’m happy to be here, very happy. I’m enjoying it and enjoying my football so far.”
With Gbode only getting a handful of minutes in the last few months, he was taken off at half time against Forest Green, as asked why that was, Woking boss Neal Ardley stated: “Joe was blowing a gasket. His legs had gone, he was tired, he's not had loads of minutes and you could see it in the game. He was struggling to do his defensive duties, we made the call, but he agreed with it as he knew that he was tired.”