Marc McNulty has admitted he would rather go on the dole than have to go back to Reading again this summer.
The on-loan Dundee United striker is now in the final six months of his contract with the English Championship outfit.
He signed a four-year contract when he moved from Coventry in 2018 but has played less than 20 games and is now in his fifth loan spell in his time there, with two stints at United, Hibs and Sunderland.
McNulty is set to become a free agent and is playing for his future but is just relieved he won’t have to go back to Reading, where he has been deemed surplus to requirements and jettisoned.
The striker explained: “My contract is finally up in the summer so who knows what will happen.
“But it’s a relief to be the one in charge of my future now.
“You can look at it two ways, there’s the stress of being out of contract and not having a club.
“I might end up working as a cleaner here at St Andrews, you don’t know!
“But for me, with all the sh** I have seen there over the years I’m just glad it’s going to be over and I don’t have to go back down there.
“I would probably be happy to be unemployed than go through that sh**e again.
“I have talked about it before and at some point I will come out and say exactly what’s gone on.
“But it’s not how you should run football clubs or deal with players who show you respect.
“It’s not a nice place, you can see that with results - a lot of managers come and go and a lot of players come and go.
“It’s not ideal, chopping and changing managers and having to train with youth teams - I’ve seen it all in football.
“But how they run their club is for someone else to worry about.
“I will be delighted when it’s up and can try to go somewhere I am valued and wanted.”
The 29-year-old admitted he wouldn’t be averse to making his time at Tannadice a more permanent one.
“I’m just happy to be at a good place now,” the former Scotland striker insisted
“I back myself, you have to as a striker and if I score a few goals there will be opportunities somewhere.
“It all depends on how well you do between now and the end of the season.
“I will have a chat with the gaffer and Tony at some stage to see if they want me to stay on but it’s too early now.
“I have been out for four months so I just have to focus on getting playing again, get among the goals and see what happens.
“It’s a great club here, great people and a fantastic set-up at St Andrews and Tannadice.”
McNulty has just come back from a hamstring injury and is determined to make up for lost time at United. He got off the mark in the Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock and wants to make it back-to-back wins when Ross County visit Tannadice this evening.
He claimed: “It was good to get a goal, it has been a long time and the best thing was to get the win.
“Once you get your first goal as a striker it’s a confidence thing and you feel like a completely different player.
“The run we have been on hasn’t been great and with the run we went on at the start of the season it maybe shows it up a bit more.
“Hopefully we can keep it going now but it will be tough against Ross County.
“They are in good form and have a very experienced manager, I know him from his teams in England.
“County are fighting to win points as well as we are, they have done really well so it’s going to be difficult.”
