HOOPS HOME IS TOPS FOR CHRIS

By Ben Willcocks

MAKING UP GROUND: Chris Willock on the attack for QPR and, inset, with his brothers Joe, left, and Matty, centre

PICTURE: Alamy

CHRIS Willock has shown a willingness to explore in his burgeoning career, but reckons he’s now found the perfect home at QPR.

Having come through the Arsenal ranks, the winger upped sticks to Portuguese giants Benfica in 2017 and then had loan spells back home with West Brom and Huddersfield before joining QPR in October 2020.

He has since found his niche at the west London club, becoming a key man in their promotion push this season. His form was rewarded d with the Sky Bet Championship p Player of the Month award for November and R’s manager Mark Warburton is a big advocate of the versatile star.

It’s no wonder Willock is loving life at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

Happy

“I love it here at the moment,” said the 23-year-old. “I feel like this is my home and I’m happy here.

“My main focus is trying to perform every week and do my best for the team. Of course, I’d love to get promoted with QPR – that’s my main goal at the moment.

“We’re all working hard and believing in what we can do. We’ve re- sponding to any setbacks that we’ve faced, and we want to keep things going.

“The Championship is such a hard league – but we know we’ve got quality in the team and we’re showing it. There is even more to come from us.”

That will be music to the ears of Warburton, who has previously stated that he believes the sky is the limit for Willock.

“He’s got a great technical base, he’s got great strength, he can hold players off,” said the boss. “He’s done really well and I think his big thing is an understanding of what he can achieve in the game and knowing how to maximise everything you’ve got. If he does that, he’s a very talented boy.”

It’s a talent that clearly runs in the family. His older brother Matty, 25, is midway through his first season at Salford in League Two and younger brother Joe, 22, continues to enjoy life in the Premier League with Newcastle after last summer’s £25m move from Arsenal.

During his own hard times, Chris has channelled the resilience of his brothers, who have been experts in overcoming adversity.

“They have amazing mentalities – they’re very strong in the mind,” he said.

“They’ve been knocked down a lot, but they always bounce back, and I think I’ve learned a lot from them.”

He also owes a debt of gratitude to his mum Sarah and dad Charles for their unwavering support.

Support

When he was a child, they chose to sell their clothes shop in north London to back their three boys as they chased a life in football.

“I’ll be forever grateful,” he said.

“They couldn’t do both because of the difficulty of taking us to football every day, so they sacrificed the shop for us to live our dreams.

“We weren’t all in the same year group – one of us could be playing in Birmingham, for example, and another could be at home in London.

“It was hard for them, travelling around and managing all of us through our careers.”

His proud dad could also be counted on to impart some words of wisdom from time to time.

“Dad was harsh at times, but it was constructive criticism,” he added. “He had the right balance and always let me know when I was slacking or needed to improve in something.

“He was always there analysing my games, and I’m thankful for that.”