Ruben Zadkovich says he is committed as ever to the Jets after returning to training with the Club on Monday.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets captain Ruben Zadkovich says he is committed as ever to the Jets after returning to training with the Club on Monday.
After completing his international commitments with the Socceroos at the EAFF East Asian Cup, Zadkovich was given a week off and permission to visit family in the United Kingdom.
While in England, Zadkovich accepted an invitation to visit Football League Championship side Millwall FC.
“I got to catch up with my older brother in London,” Zadkovich said.
“I hadn-t seen him in about 18 months and we-re really close, so I had a nice time there and I had a bit of a meet and greet with Millwall and met their manager.
“They showed a little bit of interest and I had a bit of time off after my efforts with the national team, so it was a bit like killing two birds with one stone.
“I went and met with them to find out what their interest was and also caught up with my brother, so it was good.”
Despite the interest shown by Millwall, Zadkovich said he is as committed as ever to leading the Jets during the 2013/14 A-League season.
“Nothing has changed, I-m still the captain of Newcastle and this is where I want to play my football and I wouldn-t have signed here if it was any different,” Zadkovich explained.
“This is where I love playing my football, this is where I-ve got my friends and my family and I love it here.
“I-m never not going to be interested in playing at a higher level, because that-s what we all aspire to do. We all play football to play at the best level we can.
“I went over there to see how serious the interest was, but in the end I-m still a Jets player and very happy and proud to be one.
“I-m not expecting anything to change in the next two weeks. Obviously the window is still open and you never know but I can say I-m 100 per cent committed to Newcastle.”
Zadkovich said he is confident the Jets can have a big year this season, after narrowly missing out on a finals place during the 2012/13 campaign
“I-m really looking forward to this season and to be honest I-ve got a good feeling about how we-re going to go,” Zadkovich said.
“I feel a lot of the players that came in and had their debut season or hadn-t played many games before last season, they got a lot of experience last year and learnt a lot.
“A lot of our boys have gone on to play for Australia at some level and I really feel that will put us in good stead this season and I-m really excited about it.
“We-ve got a really strong squad and it-s young, it-s feisty and the boys a hungry. That-s going to be perfect for me because I never want to be at a Club where I felt like it was easy to get a spot in the starting team.
“I always want to be pushed and I-ll have to fight for my spot just like everybody else.”
Zadkovich said he felt his recall to the Australian national team setup was a reward for his performances at Club level, as well as the result of being able to play regularly in his preferred central midfield role.
“To get consistency out of one‘s performance I feel like you have to be playing in the same position,” Zadkovich said.
“As a youngster I was always looked at as a versatile player, so I was moved around and did a job wherever I went, but I was always a central midfielder.
“To be playing in my preferred position week-in and week-out, I think it goes a long way to getting consistency out of my game and I think that-s helped me.
“It-s nice to get rewards for your efforts and I think I-ve really been putting in the hard yards in the last few years here at Newcastle.
“I think it-s just nice to get a little bit of recognition and to be in camp alongside some really good players and probably the pick of the A-League players was great.”
