Connor Hammell on his first pre-season as a professional
We spoke to Connor Hammell about his first pre-season as a professional ahead of the Tuesday morning training session."I'm really enjoying pre-season," he told us. "We had a little break but I'm glad to be back in and I'm just looking forward to the start of the new season now.
"It's a lot different to last season. The game is played at a higher intensity at first team level, and the training reflects that, but I'm really enjoying it so far. Everything is a little bit quicker and the players think faster about what they're going to do with the ball."
"It's a learning curve for me," he admitted. "I can't wait to learn more from the senior players about how the game is played.
"I trained with the first team last year but I was still nervous coming into pre-season because you have to get to know everyone properly. I need to show everyone what I can do, and why I got my professional contract, so hopefully I can do that."
"I know there's pressure on me because I've made the step up but I think I can do it," he commented.
"I played a few times for the first team last season so I know what it's about. It was good for me to get a bit of experience so early in my career."
On the pre-season games so far, he said: "I really enjoyed the pitch time against the local teams. It's always good to get back playing after a break.
"We've got three games against good teams coming up now. Hopefully I can get some more game time in those. I want to show everyone what I can do against teams that are at higher levels than us as."
On the pre-season games so far, he said: "I really enjoyed the pitch time against the local teams. It's always good to get back playing after a break.
"We've got three games against good teams coming up now. Hopefully I can get some more game time in those. I want to show everyone what I can do against teams that are at higher levels than us as."
And on the example provided by Patrick Brough and Kyle Dempsey, he said: "They were in the same position as I was at this stage last year. Seeing how well they did in the space of twelve months gives me that bit of confidence to go and do what they did.
"We've got a lot of good players so I know there's going to be a real battle to be in the team, but I believe in myself and I'm just going to push myself to try and get out on the pitch."
"We've got a lot of good players so I know there's going to be a real battle to be in the team, but I believe in myself and I'm just going to push myself to try and get out on the pitch."
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