New Melbourne Victory winger Jai Ingham reckons he’s become more direct in the final third since leaving Brisbane Roar last year, and is buzzing at the chance of debuting tonight in Geelong.
The 22-year-old was confirmed as a Victory player this week after training with the reigning Hyundai A-League champions for over a month.Â
And although Ingham was desperate to play, the waiting period has helped him catch up fitness-wise.
Victory could not officially register Ingham until the A-League transfer window opened on Tuesday.
Ingham has been immediately promoted to the Big V’s first-team squad for tonight’s clash with Central Coast Mariners in Geelong at Simonds stadium.Â
“I can’t wait to step out onto the pitch in front of the fans. It’s a dream come true to be fair,” he told Goal Australia.
“The coaches [at Victory] have been unbelievable to me, taking me step-by-step through the way we play, the way we defend, the way we attack and it’s been a lot easier for me.”
Ingham concedes it was “a hard time” when he was let go by the Roar at the end of last term with just one appearance under his belt, but he argues he’s “grown a lot” after playing for Hume City in the 2015 PS4 NPL Victoria season.
In 26 games with Hume, Ingham scored nine goals.
“I learnt to attack aggressively more and I think I got physically better as well,” he said.
“I think some of the tackles I got put on me, I think I learnt from, you know what I mean, and I learnt to ride the challenges a lot better.”
Ingham has been put through an extra fitness regimen by Victory and coach Kevin Muscat has been impressed by how quickly the youngster has adapted.
“Initially the conditioning battle, the fitness battle is a difficult one for such players to incur but he’s certainly shown that he’s adapted to that very quickly,” Muscat told reporters on Thursday.
“He’s got blistering pace and in terms of the structure… he’s shown enough already that, if needed, he could prove valuable for us.”
Ingham paid tribute to the PS4 NPL Victoria which he declared “the strongest league under the A-League”.Â
And he lauded Hume for helping him swiftly return to professional football.
“Hume was an… excellent club. They helped me a lot, to be fair, just with the training and all the players around me, they were very, very good quality,” Ingham said.
“Most of them could move up to that next level, definitely, and our training was very, very intense.”
