Richard Dunne is hoping to guide underdogs Queen’s Park Rangers to some rare away points when he lines out against former side Everton at Goodison Park tonight.
The Irish defender looks back fondly on his time at the club that kick-started his Premier League career back in the mid-nineties but revealed that there was an unsavoury chore or two for him in his early days with the Toffees.
“I have fond memories of being there, so it’s always nice to go back,” Dunne said. “They gave me the break and I’ll always be thankful for that. I was there from 16 until 20. Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman were in the same youth team as me coming through.
“I did all the old YTS stuff, like cleaning the boots and cleaning the toilets. That was all part of our learning. I had a great time living there and enjoyed my time at the club, but I’ll be hoping to turn them over. It’s about time we started picking things up on the road.”
It was about clean porcelain back then but now it’s all about trying to keep clean sheets for the centre-back, whose QPR side are struggling away from Loftus Road.
He said: “People keep telling us where we are in the table and how bad our away form is. The game’s on the TV as well and we want to make sure people aren’t doubting us as a team.
“I have no idea why it is so bad. We’ve not managed to get that first goal and have had nothing to hang on to. If we could do that, it would raise the belief in the squad.
“Once we go behind and try to go at them we leave ourselves open to get done on the counter attack.”
