Cardiff striker Michael Chopra is currently the hottest striker in the country, having scored nine goals in his last six league games. His brace in the 4-1 victory against Preston last Friday took his league tally to an impressive 21, a stat not matched by any player in any of the four divisions. Bluebirds' boss Dave Jones will be hoping the former Newcastle frontman can continue his rich vein of goalscoring form when his side travel to St Andrews on Sunday for a crucial Championship clash with promotion rivals Birmingham. Givemefootball's Mark Shail is the man armed with the questions.
Q:YOU MUST BE DELIGHTED WITH YOUR GOALSCORING FORM THIS SEASON?
A:I'm really pleased and to have scored nine goals in my last six matches has given me a lot of confidence. It's especially satisfying when you consider I actually went 13 games without a goal but the two goals I scored against Preston keeps me two ahead of anybody else in the Championship.
Q:AND THAT VICTORY AGAINST PRESTON KEEPS CARDIFF RIGHT IN THE THICK OF THE PROMOTION RACE, DOESN'T IT?
A:Yes, more recently we’ve been getting back to playing the way we were playing at the start of the season and that win against Preston was important because if we’d have lost they would have gone six points ahead of us. We suffered a bit of a slump in form around Christmas time, when we didn’t win for 13 or 14 games, but now things seem to be back on track.
Q:WHAT DO YOU PUT THAT SLUMP IN FORM DOWN TO?
A:It's difficult to say, but we were beaten 4-0 at home by Tottenham towards the end of the bad run and we realised then that something needed to be done. So we had a team meeting and decided to get back to basics and start doing the things that brought us results at the start of the season. Since then we've started to play much better as a unit and everyone in the team knows their jobs.
Q:DID YOU SET YOURSELF A GOALSCORING TARGET AT THE START OF THE SEASON?
A:I did, and it was to try and score 20 goals. Now I've done that I'll aim for 25 and if I get there I’ll look to score 30. The main thing is that I keep playing the way I have over the last month or so and that the team keeps producing results.
Q:THE TOP OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS LOOKING VERY TIGHT, ISN'T IT?
A:Yes, it's a very competitive league with some very good sides in it. There are some excellent attacking teams who can score goals on a regular basis. The game against Preston last week was a tight affair and most people thought it was going to be close when we were leading 1-0 at half time. But then we scored three goals in three minutes – that's the kind of thing that can happen in this league.
Q:ARE YOU ENJOYING WORKING WITH DAVE JONES?
A:I'm really enjoying working with him – he's not like a lot of the other managers I've played under. When things aren't working he doesn't rant and rave or shout, he just sits down and talks to you and finds out ways to improve the situation and the players respond to that.
Q:WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF YOUR OLD CLUB NEWCASTLE THIS SEASON?
A:I think they're doing okay but for some reason the club always seem to have a long list of injury problems. Any team is going to miss a player like Michael Owen – it's like Manchester United being without Wayne Rooney for the season or Chelsea being without Didier Drogba. When they get everyone back fit I'm sure they will be fine.
