Stefan Bailey Profiled/Interviewed - Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times (and other papers)

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Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Stefan Bailey
"...Stefan Bailey is junior to every one of his midfield rivals....Yet Bailey - who actually lives in Luton, having spent his formative years in Park Royal - is anything but daunted by the challenge of trying to win a place ahead of senior professionals like Steve Lomas and Marc Bircham.
"My goal now is to cement a place in the first team," Bailey told the Times. "There are a lot of good midfielders at the club, but that's more of an incentive for me to do well on the pitch. "I take bits and pieces from all the senior players and try to put them into my own game, particularly Steve Lomas. I'm trying to base my game around him because he's played at the top level for a long time and he's been a great help. "He's always very encouraging and, when he needs to, he'll give me what I suppose you'd call constructive criticism as well.
"I never expected to be playing week in, week out, but hopefully I can start to be more of a regular now and I've set myself a target of playing 15 games this season.
"I thought Jimmy and myself did well together and showed age hasn't got much to do with it - willingness to work and the determination to win are more important."...
Starting out with Middlesex County League side Willesden Constantine, he was signed by QPR at the age of 15 and made his first-team debut at Sheffield United in April 2005. Constantine have a proud tradition of producing professional footballers,....
Richard Langley's father Mike served as Constantine's first manager and Bailey recalled: "I knew Richard through the club and I also played in the same team as Showunmi.
"At one stage, it looked like he was going to sign for QPR as well, but he ended up going to Luton instead. Our manager, Larry Bascoe, knew one of the scouts at QPR and he arranged for them to come down and see us.
"After that I went to Reading for a trial, but I pulled a ligament in my ankle and was out for two months. Fortunately QPR were still interested and I signed.
"I try and stay in contact with people from Constantine, although it's not easy to see them play now. Hopefully I'll try and get down there later in the season."
....And Bailey genuinely believes he can be part of a squad competing at the upper end of the Championship table later in the campaign. "John Gregory's come in and changed things dramatically," he added. "The aim for this season is obviously to stay up first and then finish in mid-table - if not make the play-offs. "That's not out of the question at all - the table is tight at the moment and, as we've seen, anyone can beat anyone.
Kilburn Times