00:00Bristol City have confirmed that Rob Atkinson has extended his stay at Ashtongate by signing a new contract.
00:08Atkinson himself has described the previous couple of years as some of the hardest he has experienced, but sees this as a fresh start.
00:16Really good. It seemed to take its time, but really happy to be home and to get the deal done.
00:24It's obviously been a tough couple of years for yourself, so it must feel extra special to get this sorted.
00:28Yeah, it's been honestly some of the hardest times I've had to endure, not only as a footballer, but off the pitch as well.
00:37So to sort of see the back of that and I kind of see this as like a fresh start almost, it helps that there's a new manager coming in.
00:46So it's all going to hopefully come together for me.
00:49It's been not the most productive of times for me, for Bristol City, but I'm looking to rekindle it and start it again almost.
00:59I keep getting told it. New signing, he's here. And it does feel like I'm a new signing, ultimately, and hopefully I can have that sort of effect.
01:09And Bristol Rovers have announced the signing of Jack Sparks to the gas.
01:13Yeah, I'm really happy. As soon as I heard of the interest, I couldn't wait to kind of get started.
01:20I spoke to the gaffer, that was last week, so as soon as I spoke to him, it was, yeah, I couldn't wait to get going.
01:26You just mentioned talking to Darren, the head coach. How did those conversations go?
01:29But just how he's seen me, in what formation and how he wanted me to play, really matched with how I like to play.
01:37That's why it was kind of a no-brainer and I wanted to get it done as soon as possible.
01:41What attracted you to this project here at Bristol Rovers at this time?
01:45Well, having spoken to Daryl, he said, you know, we want to bounce straight back up and become an established league one side,
01:52which, you know, for me, Rovers is, that's what it should be.
01:55So speaking to him, it was, yeah, I've kind of really liked to come and got to come, I think, because it's such a good project.
02:03And speaking about talking to people here at the club, you've spoken to Ricky Martin, the director of football as well.
02:07How did those conversations go?
02:08That was good. And obviously spoke to Ricky when I first come in and he outlined kind of what Daryl outlined.
