Rickie Lambert admits Liverpool move in 2014 may have been wrong choice, but insists he is proud

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The striker returned to the Championship this summer.

Rickie Lambert has admitted to BBC Sport that he might have made the wrong choice in electing to join Liverpool in 2014, but insisted that he is proud despite his unsuccessful spell at the club.

Lambert had built his name as a prolific goalscorer at lower league level for Bristol Rovers and then, to a lesser extent, into the Premier League with Southampton in the years leading up to his Anfield move.

He had netted 117 goals in 235 games for the Saints when he left them for the Reds in 2014, but his time at boyhood club Liverpool was not to see the same success.

Lambert made 36 appearances in all competitions but started just seven Premier League games for the Merseyside club, and hit the net just twice in the league.

After a single season he was shipped out to West Brom, and with his struggles continuing – he made just 20 league appearances in two years at the Hawthorns – he has now dropped back down to the Championship with Cardiff City.

However, despite the move to Liverpool beginning a downward trajectory in his career, Lambert insists that he is proud to have represented his club, although he did admit that in hindsight it was perhaps the wrong move to make.

The former England international told BBC Sport: “I have been asked that question many a time and in hindsight maybe you would have picked a different choice.

“But no-one is telling me when Liverpool comes in for you, anyone in my shoes is going to say no being a Liverpool supporter. It did not work out but, at the end of the day, I still played for Liverpool, I played in the Champions League and still scored.

“It is something I am proud of, I wish it would have gone better but that’s football sometimes. It went my way for years and obviously it did not work out that time.”

Lambert is now hoping to become the main man once again following his move to the Welsh capital, and could make his debut for Cardiff at Norwich City on Saturday.