Jon Stead EXCLUSIVE: Exiled at Huddersfield but eight months on Bradford loanee is the joint-top scorer in the FA Cup

• Jon Stead was exiled by former Huddersfield Town manager Mark Robins 
• Eight months on the Bradford striker is the joint-top scorer in the FA Cup
• Stead could extend his run of scoring in every round against Reading
• The Bantams host the Royals at Valley Parade on Saturday afternoon

By Craig Hope for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:45 EST, 6 March 2015 | Updated: 05:13 EST, 7 March 2015

Jon Stead was looking forward to a pre-season trip to the Algarve when he noticed his passport on the bench beneath his peg in the Huddersfield Town dressing-room.

Strange. He had only just handed it in. It was then that he scanned – and rescanned - the squad list for the warm-weather getaway. Stead was grounded.

‘I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, the manager (Mark Robins) never said a word to me,’ the 31-year-old tells Sportsmail as he reflects on the shock of his summer exile.

Jon Stead (front) celebrates Bradford's famous comeback win against Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round

The Huddersfield loanee converts the Bantams' second goal against Sunderland in the fifth round

‘I thought, “What sort of season am I going to have here?”. It was a surprise because I felt good, but I certainly knew where I stood when I saw my passport.

‘They left me behind and went to Portugal. I was getting changed in the senior dressing-room by myself every day, it was soul-destroying.’

Eight months on, however, and it is Stead who is flying. On Saturday lunchtime the Bradford City loanee will bid to extend his remarkable run of having scored in every round of the FA Cup when Reading visit Valley Parade. He is one win away from a first appearance at Wembley.

‘I never dreamt my season would play out like this,’ he says.

‘I was left to train with the Under-21s but the young lads gave me enthusiasm and it was pleasure to work with them. I just went back to basics and worked my socks off.

Stead was left out of the squad for Huddersfield's pre-season tour but is now in fine scoring form at Bradford

‘After that I just needed that chance to go and play and unleash myself. Bradford has been perfect for me.’

It was in October that Stead journeyed north across the M62 and joined the League One Bantams. Within a few weeks he was scoring the goal which, on reflection, he admits could prove the most important of them all.

Phil Parkinson’s side were trailing 1-0 at Halifax in the First Round and had barely laid a finger on the Conference outfit when Stead pounced to level in the second half.

‘It’s incredible to be on this scoring run, but the goal everyone forgets is the one at Halifax - without that we might not be here now,’ he says.

After that came a cool finish in a 4-1 victory over Dartford before a close-range sweep to help dispose of Millwall during a 4-0 triumph on home soil, the prize for which was a trip to Chelsea.

At 3.40pm they trailed 2-0 to the Premier League leaders and odds of 1000/1 were available on a turnaround. It was then that Stead drilled home from the edge of the area.

‘Without that I think the game would have drifted away,’ he says.

Bradford won 4-2 to set up a home tie against Stead’s former club Sunderland, whose fans once produced a T-shirt mocking the striker’s 30-game wait for his first goal.

The striker now has five goals in the prestigious tournament this term, including this strike against Chelsea 

Stead (right) celebrates after beating Sunderland 2-0 in the fifth round with team-mate James Hanson

It was sweet, then, when he fired the tie-clincher during a 2-0 victory in front of 4,000 travelling Black Cats.

‘Not only was it a crucial goal but it was nice to prove a point,’ he says.

‘They had their opinion of me, although I always took the T-shirt in good spirit.

‘But these things have a habit of biting you on the backside, don’t they?

‘One newspaper were trying to get me to wear the T-shirt underneath my Bradford top. I thought about it but I would have looked stupid had we got beat and I didn’t score.’

The goal marked the 100th of Stead’s career. Billed as the next Alan Shearer when Blackburn paid hometown Huddersfield £1.25million 11 years ago, the England Under-21 regular never scaled the heights perhaps expected.

‘Everything had been so good for me at Huddersfield. I had no experience of things going wrong,’ he recalls.

‘It didn’t work out at Blackburn or Sunderland but I didn’t have the knowhow to turn it around.

Stead was mocked for his strike rate at Sunderland (right) but proved a point with a goal against his old club

‘It wasn’t until Sheffield United in the Premier League that I rediscovered myself. Then we had the Carlos Tevez affair and were relegated. It just felt like little breaks were going against me.

‘But I’m proud of what I have achieved over 10 years at Championship level. The gaffer says I’m actually getting better – I’m certainly not getting quicker!

‘I think he’s got a point though. I feel I’m playing at a higher level for longer periods. After what happened during the summer I feel like I have a renewed energy for it.

‘It’s good timing, especially with my deal being up in the summer. It’s nice to get my name out there and I have got a lot of football left in me.

‘There will be discussions with Bradford and if I stay that will be fantastic.’

Stead, meanwhile, has had to persuade his lucky mascot and four-year-old daughter Isabelle to come to today’s game rather than a pantomime.

Should her dad score in another Bradford upset then it will be him taking centre stage in a Wembley semi-final.

Forget the Algarve, now that would be the dream ticket.

Jon Stead’s chosen charity is www.huddersfieldgoals4hearts.co.uk 

Phil Parkinson: Bradford is the envy of many Premier League clubs

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