fact, its almost as if this appetite has been drilled into him. One senses that somewhere, his old boss Felix Magath would surely approve. Als

Sebastian Polter had a tough grounding under Felix Magath at Wolfsburg, bonded with the fans at Union Berlin and is now making the breakthrough at Queens Park Rangers under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Adam Bate met up with him at the clubs Harlington training ground to get the story so far... There are those at Fulham still recovering from their Felix Magath ordeal. The German drill sergeant, a coach-cum-torturer with a penchant for emptying his players water bottles, isnt for everyone. And yet, one man among Saturdays opponents relished the experience. But then, QPR striker Sebastian Polter never has been afraid of hard work.I had a good manager at Wolfsburg in Felix Magath who made me very strong when I was young, Polter tells Sky Sports. We always worked hard with him. Some in England know that now! I enjoyed it though. Indeed, it was under Magath that Polter made a spectacular start to life in the Bundesliga. Felix Magath looks on as Sebastian Polter is introduced for Wolfsburg at Hannover The young forward caused a stir in coming off the bench to score winning goals in his first two home games against Stuttgart and Cologne. But a subsequent move was a disappointment - I wasnt so lucky in Mainz - and it was a loan spell at second-tier side Union Berlin that earned him a summer switch to QPR. Its a move that Polter had craved.My wife and two kids are over here and were enjoying it, he says. Even when I was a little boy I was always looking to England for the football. That was the most important thing and I always wanted to come and play here. It wasnt any specific team, it was just the style of football that I like. Its up and down and Im a striker who will fight for every ball. It suits me. Polter had a good relationship with the supporters at Union Berlin Even so, the challenge of adapting to life in a new league has still been a difficult one for the 24-year-old. The Championship is very different to the leagues that Ive played in before, he adds. Its more physical here and there are a lot more games. In Germany you just have to worry about position and maybe wait for a counter-attack.Its more tactical and its about knowing those tactics. Do we go high or do we press? Here, its run, run, run, defend, defend, defend. Fortunately for Polter, thats something of a forte and hes now scored four goals in his last seven games, winning the supporters over with his work rate - just as he did in Berlin. Polter has big shoes to fill after Charlie Austins departure. Can he do it? Ive always had a good rapport with the fans because I talk to them, he says. The supporters are important. That was especially the case in Berlin. All the family, together with the fans, would go away on a trip in January. There were 500 to 1000 fans with us and you just talk to them.It sounds straightforward but Polters time in England has not been without its communication problems. Under Chris Ramsey, he made only two starts and both of them were in the Capital One Cup. He took to Twitter to express his frustration at making a slow start to life at QPR and acknowledges it was a tough start to life in a new country. Polter found the net on his first start against Yeovil but had to wait for his chance I always worked hard but in the first four months I was not happy, he admits. The first four months werent the best for me, everybody knows that. But something has changed. We have a new gaffer and I am on the pitch. While its taken time for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to turn results around, for Polter the transformation was immediate.He believes in me but hes pushing me as well, he explains. Its not a case of believing in me and letting me do what I want to do. He wants me to work hard in training and in the games. He was a striker himself and he knows what I can do for the team. He has done one-on-one stuff with me and thats important for me. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has helped transform Polters fortunes at QPR Hasselbaink wants Polter to become more selfish in front of goal. He said that to me. Sometimes I will see my team-mates in a better position but Im a striker so sometimes I have to be more selfish. But with a new partner in Conor Washington, the support is there and with it some renewed optimism.QPR are unbeaten in five games and while draws continue to be an issue, Polter feels fresh enough to take advantage as others fade. The German is doing without a winter break for the first time but having sat out the start of the campaign, he doesnt need one and is instead eyeing a march up the table. Theyre currently 11 points off the play-offs. Polter has scored four goals for QPR in his last seven appearances Weve gone two games without conceding a goal so we have a good defence thats winning us points as well, says Polter. The most important thing is to be together as a team every game. The training is a little bit harder under the new gaffer and the results will come. Weve seen this since we changed it a bit. .The first half of the season was not good. Everyone was looking to us and wondering how QPR would do in the Championship. We didnt do so well but now were doing better and better. The thing Ive taken from the Championship is that its very strange and crazy. It can change quickly. Now were turning it around, why cant we make it to fifth or sixth place?There are so many games and there are a lot of players from different countries who maybe dont know what the Championship is like. By now, maybe theyre running on empty a bit and thinking that they need a breather. Theyre thinking that 30 games is enough for them. Ive not been playing 30 games like some of the other guys so I can give it everything. Maybe nows the time we can take points off the big clubs as well. You can see that theyve been dropping points because they think theyre in a comfy position. Maybe theyll lose points here and there. Its important for us to know that. But we just have to work hard and step by step get closer to them. I know if we play as a team we can go higher and higher.So with a contract at the club until the summer of 2018, whats next for Polter? I dont look too far ahead, he says. We just need to keep getting points. Our plan is just to get as many points as we can and my aim is to play as many minutes as I can. Of course, I will play as much as I can for QPR. If we dont go up, then well go again next year.I will continue to do hard work but thats not enough. You have to do hard work every time. Its the mantra that Polter returns to again and again. In fact, its almost as if this appetite has been drilled into him. One senses that somewhere, his old boss Felix Magath would surely approve. Also See: Watch the Championship goals Queens Park Rangers 1 Ipswich 0 Julius Erving Jersey Large .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Custom Nets Jerseys . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. http://www.customnetsjersey.com/ . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Drazen Petrovic Jersey Large . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Custom Drazen Petrovic Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Haas boss Guenther Steiner hopes the teams improved performance in Japan can carry over to its first home race at the U.S. Grand Prix.Despite a shaky start to Friday practice, the introduction of a new front wing saw both Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez make it through to Q3 at Suzuka. The team came away from the race empty-handed as Grosjean finished 11th but Steiner is buoyed by the improvement the team found with the new part.I think the new front wing they are very happy with that one, how it behaves, more total than overall downforce, its more like the behaviour of the car now which he likes better and he can be more aggressive, Steiner said. I think thats the main thing that we found the better balance.On Friday we struggled here, but I think I said it before and I may repeat myself we had this front wing since Malaysia but we were never able to test it properly and find a setup or balance with it, because we always had some struggles in FP1 or FP2. So if you have a little bit of struggle in one car, you need to find out about your tyres, you cannot develop a new front wing.Theres no point to have a good front wing and you dont know what your tyres are doing, so we focussed on it here, we had a little bit of a better weekend without big mechanical failures or anything, so we got it sorted and we got a bit of an understanding for this track, I hope we can carry it into Ausstin.dddddddddddd. But that is the main reason for Romain to be a little bit happier.The improvement came following an eventful Malaysian Grand Prix for the team, which saw Grosjean suffer a brake failure and Gutierrez lose a wheel mid-way through the race. Steiner thinks the quick turnaround underlined the strength of Haas operation.Our plate was full after Malaysia to sort out the problems we had and also try to make the car quicker and get a better set-up. I think everyone worked hard and we achieved a lot in a very short time. So, again, that shows for me how the team is getting better.After Malaysia everything went wrong which could go wrong, we had so many broken parts. The guys here arrived ready to go again. We didnt have any stupid late nights here, we had one night anti-curfew but the rest the guys went home before so we are getting more efficient in how we do things and just better prepared.We cant have this without giving the time, because experience ... you need to make it. To make experience takes time and the only thing you cannot buy is time. So I think we made progress again. Of course you always make a step forward and then two back and then that is how you steadily come up. As long as you make progress I think we are happy, we are good. ' ' '