I’m raring to go, says Kelly

Liam Kelly

AFTER a long wait of more than 15 months, Liam Kelly is relishing ripping into the action again at Colchester.

“It’s been a long time since I started a competitive game,” said Athletic’s new skipper (24), who has made only two appearances as a substitute in the intervening period. “I’m hungry and can’t wait for it to start.”

Kelly’s expected place in Athletic’s opening line-up at the Weston Homes Community Stadium will bring to an end an exile which stretches back to the final day of the 2012-13 season, when his already-relegated Bristol City side were beaten 3-1 by Huddersfield Town in the Championship.

The former Kilmarnock midfield man joined Athletic on the same day that Korey Smith moved in the opposite direction to the Sky Bet League One rivals.

The departing Smith handed the captain’s armband over to Kelly — a full Scotland international — and after a pre-season this time uninterrupted by injury concerns, he is looking to put a nightmarish period of inaction behind him and start games regularly again.

“It’s a privilege (to be named captain),” said Kelly, who sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury a year ago. “Coming to a new club, you always want to make a good start and I hope to do just that.

“To be given the honour of being captain means there are responsibilities involved on and off the pitch. It is a challenge I am very much looking forward to.

“I had a bad injury last pre-season, which kept me out for the whole of that season more or less.

“But I had a good two or three months at the tail end of last season and a full pre-season this time when I haven’t missed a training session or a game.

“I want to start games week-in, week-out. I don’t want to be a bit-part player.

“It is the best thing for me and the best thing for my career.

“I got a little knock against Huddersfield, but I feel fit and ready to go at Colchester.”
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