Rob Green has revealed he would have quit QPR had he not been assured he would remain the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Green was ousted from the team by Julio Cesar soon after joining from West Ham two years ago and spent much of that ill-fated season on the substitutes’ bench.
Boss Harry Redknapp later restored him and Green was a key player as the side were promoted back to the Premier League last term, while the out-of-favour Cesar ended the campaign on loan at Toronto.
With Cesar still under contract at Loftus Road there has been speculation about the Brazilian’s future – but Green would not have signed for two more years when his deal expired this summer if there was any prospect of losing his place to him again.
Green explained: “I wouldn’t have re-signed. And I wouldn’t have signed two years ago if I knew I wasn’t going to play.
“I spoke to the manager at Anfield at the end of the previous season where I had played the last eight or nine games. He asked me what I wanted and told me ‘You are going to be my keeper, I want you to play’.
“Nothing has changed since then. I’ve played football for a long time now and not playing is not something I want to do.
“Given everything stays the same – fitness and form – I want to be part of a team playing in the Premier League and striving for success.”
And after a season in which he set a new club record by keeping eight consecutive clean sheets, and was hugely impressive in the all-important run-in, including the play-off triumph against Derby at Wembley, Green believes he has earned another crack at the top flight.
He said: “I feel like I proved my worth last season. Wherever I’ve been all I’ve really asked for is a chance.
“It was a successful season, we conceded less than a goal a game and then one in three in the play-offs and broke the club record for the number of clean sheets.
“There’s enough there to go on, as a defence and me personally, to think we did our bit and deserve a chance back in the Premier League.”
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This post was last modified on 26/07/2014