"We put in so much work every week" Joseph Hungbo

Joseph Hungbo finally grabbed his first professional goal on Wednesday to reward him for weeks of excellent performances. The Watford-loanee caught up with us after County’s 5-0 win over Dundee at Dens Park. He said:

“It’s been a long time coming, our recent performances have reflected how we’ve played but we just haven’t got the results. We’ve not been ruthless enough. But I feel like we proved ourselves, we came out with the same mentality as we had the last couple of weeks, but the difference was that we nullified their threats, and we were ruthless.

“Credit to the boys, they worked immensely throughout the game, we’re just happy to get the first 3 points of the season and hopefully we can take that onto the next game.

“Over the past couple of weeks, the results have been what they’ve been, but we know we’ve been playing well. We know we’ve been causing threats; the manager believes in us; he has faith in us, and I think we put that faith right today.

“We’re just happy to make the gaffer happy, to make the fans happy, we know they’ve travelled a long way, so we gave the fans a performance. I’m just happy that we have the 3 points.”

Hungbo’s spectacular first-half free kick is sure to be a contender for goal of the season, but it may come as a surprise to fans that the winger has never practiced free kicks before. He explained:

“That’s my first professional goal, I didn’t quite think it would be like that. To be honest, I just took it on and didn’t think too much of it. Things like that happen and hopefully it’s a first of many.

“I go over the clips with Don Cowie and analyse my performance when I can. He is telling me to be in certain places and I’m just listening and taking in information. It wasn’t a back-post finish, but it was a good set-piece goal, so we just need to keep going.

“If I’m being honest with you, I actually haven’t practiced free kicks. I have honestly no idea where it came from, sometimes it’s just your day and today it was our day. The team were fantastic, the team were immense, and we deservedly won.

“The gaffer had a change in personnel in terms of the takers, so he was like ‘Joe, you’re on it’. I took that by the scruff of the neck, and I tried to do something, and it just so happened that I was able to do what I done.”

However, Hungbo insists that this is the only the beginning for him and that there is plenty more he can offer as the season progresses. He added:

“I’m relentless, I never stop! I always keep working… yes, I scored, but I now look to Saturday, what’s next? That’s the most important thing, to look to Saturday to see how we can nullify Hibs.

“We put in so much work every week, we analyse the opponents, see what their threats are, see what they are good at. We also know what our threats are, we can go about our business, and we can really cause threats.

“That’s why I’m here, to gain as much experience as I can to impress anyone and everyone around. But the most important thing is us getting 3 points and you know the rest can take care of itself.

“This is a new environment for me, this is different for me, and the important thing is to learn every game. Whether you are on the bench or whether you are playing, you are just learning and taking little hints every game. That’s all I’ve been doing and that’s what I’ll keep on doing for the rest of my career.”

Joseph will be hoping to make an impact again on Saturday as the Staggies host Hibernian at the Global Energy Stadium. County fresh off the back of their first league victory of the season will face a deflated Hibs side who have lost their last 4 league matches.