It’s easier to play football when you have amazing people around you – Odey happy with life at Randers

Nigeria international Stephen Odey has admitted to being “really happy” at Randers, adding that having amazing people around him is helping him perform better as a footballer.

Odey joined Randers on loan in the summer from Genk and has scored an impressive 11 goals in 13 appearances for the club across all competitions so far this season. He says his teammates and coach makes playing football easy.

Speaking with Omasports exclusively after a man of the match display, in a league game against FC Midtjylland Odey said: “I’ll say I’m really happy. I’m not going to lie, I am really happy. I have amazing people around me, the teammates the coaches. They’re really amazing.

“It’s easier for me to play football when people around you are ready to cover you even if you make mistakes. They’re ready to cover your mistakes up.

The 23-year-old says life is better for him now than when he was in the Belgium Pro Division with Genk – a club he signed for in July 2019.

Odey made only 11 league appearances for Genk and was loaned out. Now on loan at Randers, Odey has rediscovered his spark, thanks to the “amazing people” he has around him.

“It’s really helped me a lot,” Odey continued. “I remember then when I was in Genk, I was always down. I said [to myself] ‘why did I come to this place if I’m not going to get my playing time.’

“But here [Randers] I’m happy I’m playing football. And not just football alone. When you have amazing people, you’ll be happy and you want to do more, that’s the difference here and it has really helped me and it has covered a lot of doubt in my life.

Odey says despite not getting playing time at Genk, he was never scared that he wasn’t going to get another club. He was instead focused on working harder.

“I wasn’t really scared because even when I wasn’t playing in Genk, I had a few clubs but Genk were not allowing anything to work out,” he said.

“To me it was like I am not even playing and I get these clubs. If I start playing football, I know what’s going to come. All that was in my head was keep working hard, when the time comes you just have to be ready. So I always worked hard and even paid coaches for extra training.

“What I am going to do to prove them wrong is doing extra training, keep fit and help my career grow more.”