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CAIRNEY: IT WILL BE HARD TO KEEP PLACE

0 Comments | Hull Daily Mail, Jul 26, 2010 | by PHILIP BUCKINGHAM

TOM Cairney is aiming to “kick on” his fledgling career by establishing himself as a Hull City regular under new boss Nigel Pearson.

The 19-year-old, who played 90 minutes in City’s 4-2 friendly defeat to Sunderland on Saturday, burst on to the first-team scene midway through last season with a string of eye-catching displays.

It was enough to earn Cairney rave reviews and be tipped as a future international by former team-mate George Boateng.

But having dropped down to the Championship with the Tigers, the highly-rated midfielder first wants to command a lead role at the KC Stadium – starting with the season opener against Swansea in 12 days.

“I want to play as big a part in this season that I can,” Cairney told the Mail.

“I’m 19 now and I got some games in the Premier League – more than I expected – and now it’s all about kicking on.

“We’ve got a lot of quality players in our squad and it will be hard to keep a place but I will be working hard to make sure I give the manager reason to pick me.

“Everyone wants to start the season, it’ll be a big game for us. I hope I can do enough to be a part of it.”

Cairney was one of four homegrown rookies on the pitch at the end of defeat to Sunderland and one of six who enjoyed City’s warm- weather training camp on the Algarve.

All are aiming to impress Pearson in pre-season and Cairney believes the invasion of youth can help bring a big campaign.

“There’s a few of us young lads looking to play a big part this season,” he added. “It’s good for the club and it’s good for the fans to see that the youth policy is working.”

Cairney was one of the few to stake a claim in Saturday’s defeat to Sunderland at Albufeira’s Estadio Municipal.

Four first-half goals from Fraizer Campbell saw the Tigers suffer a shuddering setback to pre-season before an improved showing after the break spared their blushes.

Only Saturday’s home game with Dundee United remains for City to make the necessary improvements before the curtain raiser a week later but Cairney is confident that the Tigers remain on track.

He added: “We’ve got one more game now and we’re still confident. A good win this weekend will set us up nicely for August 7. We can definitely play better
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