‘He deserves to hear his name sung’: Vaughan set for home debut
BRIGHT FUTURE: Harry Vaughan. Picture by Hull City
By Simon Bristow
Highly-rated youngster Harry Vaughan is set to be handed his home debut in front of a bumper crowd at the MKM Stadium on Saturday when Hull City take on Watford.
The versatile midfielder, who celebrated his 19th birthday on April 6, made his bow for the Tigers at Blackburn last Saturday with an impressive 85 minutes in the goalless draw at Ewood Park.
He featured again in the 3-1 loss at Middlesbrough on Wednesday, getting another 65 minutes under his belt.
Now boss Liam Rosenior says Vaughan will be in the starting eleven when City entertain Watford tomorrow in a sign of the manager’s growing confidence in the youngster, who signed from National League Oldham in January.
Speaking at an online press conference today, Rosenior said: “Harry’s done great. I want him to keep his feet on the floor. We’ve got Harry here, he’s settled. I’ll be honest with you – Harry will start the game tomorrow. He deserves to start at home. He deserves to hear his name sung at home. So he’s someone who’s definitely going to play the game.
“And the reason I took him off on Wednesday night was just because I felt that was enough for him in terms of his development and understanding – three goals in six minutes is hard for a senior player to deal with. I want him to kind of stay in a good place because he is in a good place. But he’ll definitely start the game tomorrow because he deserves it.”
Season top-scorer Óscar Estupiñán is ruled out through injury, but defender Alfie Jones is expected to be fit for the final home game of the season against Swansea on April 29. Rosenior said loan forward Aaron Connolly was unwell but would “hopefully” be fit in time to feature against Swansea.
Wednesday’s defeat against promotion-chasing Middlesbrough ended a five-game unbeaten run for Rosenior’s Tigers, and he is looking to get back on track with one eye already on next season’s campaign.
Asked about the test posed by tomorrow’s visitors, Rosenior said: “It’s a dangerous game. I like it. I like the fact we’ve gone away to Middlesbrough, played really, really well for 55 minutes and conceded three goals in six minutes, because now the test against top-level players, and they do have top-level players, is can we get back to our really, really good defensive record and switch on and defend well, as well as, on top of, playing the way that we want to play and dominate games?
“So I think it’s the perfect game for us. At home – great crowd again, it’s going to be a good game, two footballing teams. Let’s go and enjoy and let’s see if the lessons from Wednesday are learnt tomorrow afternoon.”
He added: “We’re in a position to learn now. We’re safe in the league. So that’s the objective for the season done – we’re trying to build something special for next season. It’s a good lesson if we learn from it.”
Another crowd in excess of 20,000 is expected for the visit of Watford as momentum around the club since Rosenior took charge in November continues to build.
With three games left to play, City are in 16th place in the Sky Bet Championship on 53 points. Watford are six points ahead in 12th.