Will Hoskins made his return in the under-21's match against Bristol City
Marking his return with a goal, Will Hoskins believes his re-introduction to competitive football couldn’t have gone any better.The striker, whose first-half strike secured Albion’s under-21 side a share of the points in their clash with Bristol City, played the opening 30 minutes of today’s fixture and admitted it was good to get back into action.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “For my first game back I’m more than chuffed. Mentally you always want everything to go right and today it couldn’t have gone much better.
“My main focus was to hit the target because it’s what I like to do, it’s what I enjoy, so it was brilliant to score.
“It could have been more, but it’s about getting the rustiness out now. I hit the back of the net so I’ll take the positives and won’t dwell on the missed chances.”
Enduring two cruciate operations, Hoskins believes that his will to succeed has helped fuel him throughout his lay-off and he has no plans to sit back now.
“I’ve got my own personal goals that I want to hit and I know I’ll hit them,” he adds. “I’ve managed to get back from two cruciate operations in a year and that took a lot of hard work and has been down to me remaining mentally positive and really wanting it.
“I want it so much and I’m not going to let anything get in the way! I want to get my fitness back quickly so I can be ready if I’m called upon [for the first team]. It’s where I want to be.”
Noting the differences between a training environment and a competitive game, the striker admitted that today’s match was a big indication of the progress he has made.
“There’s a lot more movement, so you’ve got to be strong and stabilised.
“It was therefore a good test out there for me today against an experienced centre-back.
“But now it [the knee] feels good and it feels strong.
“The lungs are a little bit sore, but I know it’s in the tank and it was good to get out there in a big-game situation.
“I was a little nervous. In training I’m fine but today when I warmed up I could feel it in my legs but that’s because it’s a game and it’s where it’s won or lost.
“But overall I’m happy to be back and delighted to have my goal.”
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