Nine goals last season wasn’t enough to satisfy striker Seb Palmer-Houlden.
The 20-year-old Bristol City frontman is determined to add significantly to his goal tally while on a season-long loan at Dundee.
Palmer-Houlden made an impact on loan at Newport County where he struck seven league goals in 32 appearances and faced two World Cup-winning defenders in what was nearly an FA Cup shock against Manchester United.
Now he’s out to build on that campaign with the Dark Blues.
Big and athletic with a love of running, Palmer-Houlden showed fans in Poland what he can do with a fine equaliser in a friendly against Lech Poznan.
👀| Loan Watch: Seb Palmer-Houlden is off and running at Dundee FC, as he netted in their 1-1 draw against Lech Poznan. Seb, started upfront and played 68’ minutes, bagging a wonderful goal.#BristolCity pic.twitter.com/N8SxJ1r0QU
— Bristol City | bs3chat (@bs3chat) July 6, 2024
After making his competitive debut on Tuesday night in victory at Arbroath, the young striker is eager to taste more first-team action – and to grab more goals.
Asked is he was satisfied with last season’s goal tally, Palmer-Houlden told Courier Sport: “I think I could have done better.
“I missed a few chances and I didn’t score in the last eight games so my record could have been a lot better.
“But looking at it as my first season I have to take it for what it is. And I think it was really good – it helped me get a contract at City and that gave me a bit of security, which is what you want.
Reasons for loan move
“I’ve been at City since eight-years-old, I’m from Bristol so being a homegrown player and because of the way I play, lots of running, it gets people off their seats.
“I like to press and work hard, give that energy to the fans. I think some of them were maybe disappointed [at leaving on loan] because they thought I might get a chance in pre-season.
“But I just wanted to know I was going to play and they already had two strikers in front of me and have brought in a third since.
“They might bring a fourth so you never know, I could be going down the pecking order.
“Especially after a season like last season, the last thing you want is to be playing U/21 football.
“Or just sitting on the bench all season as the 19th man.
“So I was speaking to my agent and speaking to Bristol City about the right thing to do, going forward Dundee was the right option.
“I had quite a few League One clubs and a few in League Two.
“I want to play at the highest level possible and it was a no-brainer when I found out Dundee were interested.”
‘Big challenge’
Palmer-Houlden admits it is a “dream come true” to be facing a derby on the opening day of the league season at rivals Dundee United.
And it is the experience of big games he is keen to savour as he learns his way in the senior game.
“I’m looking to get a lot of experience,” he added.
“I played in League Two last year and grounds aren’t as big – maybe four or five thousand each week, up to Bradford where it is about 17,000.
“But you can’t compare that to playing at Celtic and Rangers.
“With the Premiership being quite a small league with 12 teams I think it’ll be a really good experience.
“I want to try to score a lot of goals, as a striker that’s my job.
“I just want to play regularly, try to get into the side and to give the gaffer some options.
“Moving away from home is a big thing, I’ve never had that experience.
“So I think it’s a big challenge for me but I see it as character-building.
“I looked into Dundee and saw the fans were amazing, loads of support.
“And the fact that so many fans turned up [for the pre-season tour] in Poland in the middle of nowhere shows how much they care.”
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