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Connor Hall has expressed his delight after scoring his 20th goal of the season as Wanderers Under-23s maintained their lead at the top of the Professional Development League North table on Thursday night.
The striker hit the milestone in the young Whites' 1-1 draw with Watford, slotting home late on to become the first player to reach the landmark since the leagues were restructured for the introduction of the Professional Development Leagues in 2012.
And having rifled home against the Hornets with first team manager Phil Parkinson watching on from the sidelines, the striker is refusing to rest on his laurels.
“It feels good to have reached 20 goals,” Hall told bwfc.co.uk. “I had a bit of a shaky start to the season.
I didn't score in the first five games, but then I got off the mark against Nottingham Forest in October.
“I’ve been flying ever since, scoring mainly in and around the six-yard box.”
The 20-year-old made his senior debut against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup back in January, coming off the bench for the final five minutes.
Hall is keen to build on that solitary appearance, knowing that the Wanderers first team management staff are monitoring his performances closely.
“It’s important to keep playing well with the first team watching me,” he continued.
“But whether the gaffer is watching or not, I just take every game as it comes and always give it my best.
“If one of the boys from the Under-23s goes up and trains with the first team, then everyone wants them to do well. There’s not any jealousy between us.
“And it reflects well on everyone, not just that player. It looks good for David Lee, Tony Kelly and the whole team.
“To score in every other game is always good for my chances of breaking in. Hopefully I can get a chance from now until the end of the season.”
Hall has credited David Lee and Tony Lee for the role they’ve played in his all-round development since joining the club last summer.
“David and Tony have both helped me massively and they’re big fans of mine," he said. "Depending on how tough the training session is, I’ll sometimes stay behind and practice shooting with them.
“We began doing that at the start of the season when I was going through a rough patch in front of goal, and soon after I started scoring.
“The sports scientist Jack Fahey has also done a lot of work with me. As a team, we’ve been doing quite a lot of running to improve our fitness and that has helped us towards the end of games.”
With Thursday night’s draw, the young Whites remain top of the table with a two-point advantage and game in hand on second-placed Sheffield Wednesday.
“I thought the team showed excellent character to come back from a goal down against Watford – we haven’t had many situations where we’ve been one goal down this season, so we had to work together as a team.
“We’ve been on a really good run since our poor start and if we are serious about winning the league, we need to be winning games like this.
“We want to win the league and then the play-offs.”
Source
The striker hit the milestone in the young Whites' 1-1 draw with Watford, slotting home late on to become the first player to reach the landmark since the leagues were restructured for the introduction of the Professional Development Leagues in 2012.
And having rifled home against the Hornets with first team manager Phil Parkinson watching on from the sidelines, the striker is refusing to rest on his laurels.
“It feels good to have reached 20 goals,” Hall told bwfc.co.uk. “I had a bit of a shaky start to the season.
I didn't score in the first five games, but then I got off the mark against Nottingham Forest in October.
“I’ve been flying ever since, scoring mainly in and around the six-yard box.”
The 20-year-old made his senior debut against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup back in January, coming off the bench for the final five minutes.
Hall is keen to build on that solitary appearance, knowing that the Wanderers first team management staff are monitoring his performances closely.
“It’s important to keep playing well with the first team watching me,” he continued.
“But whether the gaffer is watching or not, I just take every game as it comes and always give it my best.
“If one of the boys from the Under-23s goes up and trains with the first team, then everyone wants them to do well. There’s not any jealousy between us.
“And it reflects well on everyone, not just that player. It looks good for David Lee, Tony Kelly and the whole team.
“To score in every other game is always good for my chances of breaking in. Hopefully I can get a chance from now until the end of the season.”
Hall has credited David Lee and Tony Lee for the role they’ve played in his all-round development since joining the club last summer.
“David and Tony have both helped me massively and they’re big fans of mine," he said. "Depending on how tough the training session is, I’ll sometimes stay behind and practice shooting with them.
“We began doing that at the start of the season when I was going through a rough patch in front of goal, and soon after I started scoring.
“The sports scientist Jack Fahey has also done a lot of work with me. As a team, we’ve been doing quite a lot of running to improve our fitness and that has helped us towards the end of games.”
With Thursday night’s draw, the young Whites remain top of the table with a two-point advantage and game in hand on second-placed Sheffield Wednesday.
“I thought the team showed excellent character to come back from a goal down against Watford – we haven’t had many situations where we’ve been one goal down this season, so we had to work together as a team.
“We’ve been on a really good run since our poor start and if we are serious about winning the league, we need to be winning games like this.
“We want to win the league and then the play-offs.”
Source