Aaron Connolly admits he has not been professional enough as he looks to get career back on at Hull City
AARON CONNOLLY admitted he has not been professional enough as he looks to get his career back on at Hull City.
The Ireland striker joined the Tigers on loan from Brighton until the end of the season after an unhappy loan spell in Italy with Serie B club Venezia was cut short in December.
He started his first game for his club on Saturday in a 1-0 loss to Sheffield United which was his first start since facing Israel for the Ireland Under-21s in September.
And Connolly admitted that he needs to prove himself all over again at Hull, having not done enough in the past few seasons.
He told This is Hull: “It’s a massive point in my career. I’m 23 next week, being 19 feels like a long time ago when I was playing in the Premier League regularly.
“That’s down to me and that’s stuff I’ve not been professional enough about.
Read More On Football
“That mindset has completely flipped and if I can take anything positive from that Italy move, it’s that side of the game off the pitch, I had to get used to a different environment and just work.
“There was a lot of running in Italy but I’m starting to enjoy that bit of it as well, the professional side.
“My last start was at the end of September with Ireland Under-21s, so to get 90 minutes was big.
“I felt like I put in a decent shift for the team and hopefully if I can get sharper and a little bit more match fit, I can help the club out.”
Most read in The Irish Sun
The Galway man also hopes that he can show enough in the coming weeks to force his way back into Stephen Kenny’s Ireland plans having been out of favour since September 2021.
BETTING OFFERS: FREE BETS AND BEST NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
And he knows the best way to do that is to help Hull away from the bottom of the table and into the play-off places.
He added: “It’s about having that belief really and not letting that home side of the game, when we’re at home, affect us when we’re out there.”