Jordan Hugill says he's loving life at Cardiff City but admits he's still hoping for another crack at the Premier League after being frozen out by West Bromwich Albion earlier in the season.
Hugill has enjoyed a reasonably successful stint with the Bluebirds since arriving on loan in January, making a solid contribution to Steve Morison's bid to ease any relegation concerns with a useful tally of three goals and two assists in 11 league appearances.
It's been a welcome turn of events for the forward, who became something of an outcast during the latter stages of Valerien Ismael's reign at The Hawthorns. Hugill's clearly enjoying life under Morison, but admits he's preparing to head back to parent club Norwich City at the end of the current campaign. And he hopes his exploits, one way or the other, will give him a platform to go out and test himself in the Premier League again one day. For the latest Cardiff transfer news, sign up to our newsletter.
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Speaking to the EFL podcast, he said: “I’m loving my time at Cardiff, I’m really enjoying playing my football there, Steve Morison knows what type of striker I am and said that he was very similar to myself as a player as well.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, it’s one of those things where as far as I know at the moment, I’m going back to Norwich in the summer to get ready for pre-season.
“We go from there, I’ve got a year left on my contract there still, ideally I’d like to prove myself in the Premier League if they stay up. That’s my aim, I want to do well and play in the Premier League again.”
Hugill netted his first City goal on his debut, a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest, a result that ended a six-match winless streak for Morison's men. It was a game that arguably set the tone for his time in south Wales, and he says there's no shortage of confidence within the camp, ahead of what promises to be a massive South Wales derby clash with Swansea City after the international break.
"There's a massive buzz around the place and you look at the results," he added. "We've had mad games, playing twice a week for the last seven weeks, so it's been hectic. But it's kind of what we needed because we hit a bit of form and we've carried it on throughout the full thing.
"Since I've been there, I've lost one game I've been involved in. We've lost two overall since then. So, I get a lot of satisfaction out of that but ultimately I get a lot of satisfaction out of playing, scoring, having an impact on games and proving people wrong."
Hugill admits his progress in a Cardiff shirt has been made all the sweeter after the way his previous loan spell at the Baggies ended. After Ismael moved for Daryl Dike, Hugill found himself on the periphery of the first team set-up at The Hawthorns, before eventually being frozen out complete.
"It does feel a bit sweeter," he said. "You look at where Cardiff were and probably look at me saying 'he's going there and might get relegated' but to go there and do what we've done, it's nice to show people that actually I can do it and I am a good player. You give me a chance this is what I can do.
"There were times at West Brom when things weren't going my way. I was getting left out the squad and training on my own and for me sometimes a little break away from football.
"I like proving people wrong. People expect you in those situations to just chuck your toys out the pram and not do what you're told. But when it's asked of me in that way, I go to a different level. I work harder. I do extras. I go to the gym every day. I do go around with heavy weights.
"Some of the best times I trained at West Brom were when they were maybe making me train on my own and then getting me back in for a few sessions. I knew what I was doing and I felt comfortable in what was going on. I wasn't reacting in a way that they probably thought I was going to react. Then I got my head down, worked even harder, got in the gym, and I came away thinking 'I've done my extras, I've trained well and everything that I can control, I've done'.
"You can only control what you can control."
