Striker Will Keane made his long awaited comeback from injury in the Under 23 game between Hull City and Crewe Alexandra on Monday evening.
It was Keane’s first appearance since he suffered a serious knee injury in the game against Southampton back in November 2016 and having found the net in the five one victory, Greg Luer also helped himself to a hattrick.
Speaking to the Official Site following the game, Keane knew it couldn’t have gone much better for him given his months on the sidelines.
‘I think it all went according to plan. I got through it fine first and foremost. I felt sharp and it was good to get that run-out. It was quite a heavy pitch compared to what I`ve been doing my rehab on so it was a good test and I felt as though I got out of it what I needed to. It was nice to get a goal and have that scoring feeling back, too.’
Keane went on to say.
‘Monday night was a date that I had been working towards through the back end of December. Playing with the U23s is probably the best way to get back into things and you can see how hard they work every day in training. They`re intense games because you have players striving to push themselves towards first team plans, and they are good players to play alongside.’
With plenty of change at Hull since he’s been out, the departures of Marco Silva and Leonid Slutsky, Keane was also pleased to know that new man Nigel Adkins was in attendance for the match as well.
‘He`s been great and it was nice that he was down to watch the game at Ferriby. I think he understands that I`ve been out for a really long time and that just to be back out on the training ground is a great feeling for me. He`s been really positive and although he doesn`t want me to rush things, he knows that I am getting closer and hopefully he will see my progression.’
Keane will obviously have a few more matches at Under 23 level before he can hope to stake a first team claim under Adkins, but that’s just part of the process and he knows what he needs to do.
‘The U23s have another game on Thursday so hopefully I can play a full half in that one. There`s a game next week as well so maybe I can get an hour or so and if I can tick those games off, I`ll hopefully be up for selection for the first team. A full 90 minutes is the eventual aim and hopefully that will come in the next few weeks. It`s a new year and a fresh start. I want to kick-on and put things behind me now to have an injury-free run and to help the team.’
