Conor Townsend on what he wants from his loan spell
Defender Conor Townsend spoke to us about what he wants from the next few months shortly after signing his half season loan deal on Friday morning.
"I'm very happy to be here," he said. "All along I said I wanted to come back so I'm pleased it's finally happened. It was a bit of an inconvenience for both parties that I had to go back to Hull during December but I just can't wait to get started again now.
"There was some interest from other clubs but I said to the people at Hull that I wanted to come here. Thankfully Kav made it happen. I want to make sure I repay his faith in me now because he made it clear that he wanted to bring me back to the club which is always nice to hear.
"I felt really at home when I was here the first time. The lads and the fans made me feel so welcome and I was enjoying my football here, which was a really important factor in my decision. Hopefully I can recapture the form I was in during my first spell and help the team get some good results."
"It was nice to get my new contract at Hull because it means I can come here and concentrate on my football," he admitted. "My future was up in the air a little bit so my first spell here has helped me get that sorted.
"I'll be 21 by the end of the season and I know I can't keep playing in the reserves at Hull. Obviously my first spell went really well and I do think that my performances persuaded them to give me another contract.
"The people at Hull have told me to carry on playing the way I was. I want to try and play as many games as I can and stay in the team for as long as possible. I felt like I improved during my last spell and I want to carry that on this time. First team football is a lot different to playing in the reserves and playing in front of the fans has been a great experience."
"I've made sure I've kept myself fit throughout this month because I did hope that I would be able to come back," he told us. "We had a little bit of time off over Christmas but I've made sure I've been doing extra after the training sessions to make sure I'm as ready as I can be.
"I played a lot of games during my first spell so it was frustrating when it came to an end. I don't think I'll be as sharp as I was straight away but I'm sure it will come quickly. I think the adrenaline will help me to get through on Sunday but I want to get my match sharpness back as quickly as possible."
"As soon as I saw the Sunderland game come out of the hat I had it in my mind that I needed to be fit," he admitted. "These are the teams I want to be playing against every week eventually so, if I'm selected, I'll be looking to prove I'm capable of doing it.
"Anything can happen in the FA Cup. Even if they played their first team I think we would fancy our chances. If we play well and catch them on an off day then we can give them a good test. We know we'll have to be on the top of our game but we'll go there hoping to cause an upset. It will be the biggest crowd I've ever played in front of so it's definitely one to look forward to."
"I've kept my eye on the results over the last month," he said. "It's been frustrating for me that I haven't been able to help the team but it's good to be involved with it all again. We've made a few good loan signings in Tom Lawrence and Max Ehmer so hopefully we can make our way up the league now.
"Our target for the rest of the season has to be to get ourselves as high up the table as we can. There's no reason why we can't do that if we string a few results together."
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