Aaron Connolly admits he has himself to blame for the slump in his career as he aims to get back to the top on loan to Championship side Hull City.
fter two sub appearances, Connolly started for Hull against Sheffield United last weekend, his first start for club or country in almost five months and while that was a 1-0 loss for his side, Connolly’s display was positive.
He’s on loan to Hull from Brighton until the end of the season, as an earlier, unhappy, loan spell in Italy with Venezia was cut short after he struggled to settle, and he admits that he needs to use the time on loan in Hull to knuckle down.
“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,” Connolly told This Is Hull.
“That’s down to me and that’s stuff I’ve not been professional enough about. 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 be sharper and a little bit more match fit, I can help the club out.”
Hull are three games without a win, including an FA Cup loss to Fulham, but Connolly is looking ahead to key games at home to QPR and Cardiff City, City without a home win since October.
“It’s a bogey patch at the minute, the home form,” Connolly said. “But if we can perform like we did against Sheffield United against QPR and against Cardiff, then we’ll blow teams away in this league.
“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. The fans want to see us do well, we want to do well for them, and hopefully they can get behind us even more than they have, because they were top tonight.”