Published: Thursday, 26th November, 2009 4:00pm

Rasiak vows to ease Pride Park pain

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GRZEGORZ Rasiak hopes his return to Derby County this Saturday proves to be a happier experience than his last visit to Pride Park (3pm ko).

The former Rams striker suffered one of the most heartbreaking nights of his career when he lost to his old club in a penalty shoot-out while playing for Southampton in the second-leg of the 2007 Championship play-off semi-final.

To make matters worse, Rasiak had scored a dramatic late equaliser to make it 4-4 and send the game into extra-time after Saints had heroically fought back from 3-1 down.

But it was Derby who held their nerve from the spot to win 4-3 on penalties and they went on to beat West Bromwich Albion in the final to secure promotion to the Premier League.

Now Rasiak desperately wants to erase that memory this weekend as Reading attempt to extend their unbeaten run to four matches.

The in-form Polish hitman declared: "I'm definitely looking forward to it because I love playing at Pride Park. It will be an enjoyable game for me as I spent 11 months there and hopefully it will be a good game for everybody.

"I scored a last minute goal for Southampton against them in the play-off semi-final but we lost on penalties and that was the last time I played at Pride Park.

"Other than the kitman, there is no-one really there now from my time because there have been so many changes over the last four years.

"But I had a fantastic time at Derby under George Burley. There's a fantastic atmosphere every game at Pride Park.

"There are 30,000 people and they support the club very well whether they are in the Premier League or the Championship. It should be a great atmosphere again.

"When you play against your old team you usually get an average reception. But in the past I have had a fantastic receptions and hopefully the Derby supporters still remember me and everything will be okay."

Ex-Derby boss Burley brought Rasiak to England in 2004 on a free transfer after he had scored 34 goals in 66 league games for Polish outfit Dyskobolia.

He became an instant fans' favourite after bursting onto the scene with 19 goals in his first season before being sold to Spurs for a whopping £3 million to help cash-strapped Rams balance the books.

However, the 30-year-old striker revealed his original destination was not the East Midlands but, in fact, Italy.

"I had signed a three year deal with Sienna then I found out there were different rules in Italy," he explained.

"Teams can only have two players who don't come from counties within the European Union so I would have had to wait two years before I could play.

"I wasn't allowed to play in the league, I could only play friendlies in pre-season. So I had to make a decision and after a couple of months I decided I would go somewhere else so I signed for Derby that September."

Rasiak's career immediately took off and he added: "I scored 19 goals in 45 games for Derby which I think is a good record.

"I was there for less than one year but I had a fantastic time and we lost in the play-offs to get to the Premier League.

"Derby also got a lot of money when they sold me to Tottenham. I got off to a really good start at Spurs. I played two games and scored against Liverpool, but the referee disallowed it even though it was a good goal.

"After that Mido came back from suspension so competition was really hard with Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe.

"It was difficult to play every week so I moved to Southampton in the February before the last World Cup because I wanted to play regularly. But I'll always be very grateful to Derby."

And he admitted: "Moving abroad from Poland was a big step but I'm very pleased to be playing over here because the supporters,

"I've had some fantastic spells in England. Coming here has been great for me and my family.

"Yes, things can always be better but I'm very happy. I've scored 66 goals in England and I want to get a few more."

Rasiak has netted four times in seven starts for Royals including three goals in the last three games.

Last Saturday he stepped off the bench to head the winner against Blackpool and he could be recalled to Brendan Rodgers' starting line-up this weekend.

"I'm ready to play from the first minute," Rasiak declared. "But it's up to the manager.

"I've got a bet with him where the loser buys dinner. I said I can score 15 goals and that's my target for the season."

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