Caulker keen to play top-flight football
Bristol City's on-loan defender Steve Caulker is aiming to return to the Premier League next season, but does not necessarily think he’ll go back to parent club Tottenham Hotspur.
The 19-year-old youngster made his first-team debut for Spurs in their Carling Cup clash with North London rivals Arsenal at the start of the season before going out on loan to the Robins.
Caulker has impressed in his 29 appearances at Ashton Gate so far, but has expressed his desire to return to top-flight football.
However, with competition for places fierce at the White Hart Lane outfit, the youngster is focusing instead on playing first team football, even if it means going being loaned out again next season.
"That is my aim, to play Premier League football next season, and Tottenham would like me to go out on loan to a fellow top flight side if possible," Caulker told skysports.com.
"It depends whether the right kind of offer comes in and it is a club that is right for me because otherwise I might have to come back down to the Championship again.
"I've still got plenty of years ahead of me and I'm just looking forward to playing as many first-team games as possible, either in the Premier League or the Championship.
"Looking at it from a sensible point of view I can see that they have seven centre-halves already at the club, so I will probably have to go back out on loan to play regularly.”
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Caulker hopes he can impress Spurs manager Harry Redknapp during his regular training sessions with the squad and believes injuries and transfers could play a role in helping him return to the club in the near future.
"I'm training back at Spurs on Mondays and Tuesdays, so that Harry can take a look at me and how I've progressed, but it all depends on the rest of this season," he said.
"A few injuries or players sold in the summer can change things, but it all depends on what Harry Redknapp thinks is the best option."
By Vaishali Bhardwaj
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.