BILLY Sharp today revealed he left Southampton because he did not want to 'go stale' on the sidelines – and pledged to prove his worth at Nottingham Forest.
The striker admitted his frustration and surprise at being told he would be a peripheral figure on the south coast.
Sharp fired eight goals to help Southampton to promotion, after moving from Doncaster in January – and he expected to have the chance to prove he could cut it in the top flight.
But now he admits it would be hard to return to St Mary's in the future – and instead hopes to earn a Premier League opportunity with Forest, after joining on a season-long loan.
"I don't want to go into too much detail, but it was best for me to leave. I don't want to be sat around not playing, because then you go stale," said Sharp. "Things would have to change for me to go back there.
"I thought I was at the peak of my career. I was stronger, I was leaner and I felt as though I could have challenged for a place in the starting 11 down there.
"But it was not meant to be.
"You never say never. But I am a Nottingham Forest player now and I am looking forward to being part of things here.
"Hopefully I will play a lot of games and score a lot of goals.
"I was enjoying it at Southampton. But I found out a few things and it was best for me to move on.
"Football can change quickly and I was not prepared to just sit around and not earn my money.
"People often say that footballers are well paid – well, I like to earn my wages and I hope I can do that here."
Sharp will face a fight for his place at Forest as well – but is likely to be given his full debut against Birmingham today, with Simon Cox recovering from a foot injury collected on international duty with Ireland.
"Southampton was a club with a lot of strikers and I was willing to fight for my place there," he said.
"It is the same situation here. There are a lot of good strikers here, with a goal threat.
"It is just a question of making sure you work hard to give yourself a chance of being in that team."
Forest striker Matt Derbyshire has joined League One Oldham on a month-long loan deal.
