Making his Championship debut was the moment Danny Hylton has been waiting for, but the striker is not satisfied with a substitute’s cameo as he wants to play his part in trying to steer Luton to Championship safety.
After 11 months out with a knee injury, the striker made his return in the 1-0 midweek win over Sheffield Wednesday, which fulfilled a boyhood dream, though he’s desperate for more.
“Finally, I’ve made a debut in the Championship. It’s been a long time coming. More importantly, we got a win and three points. I really enjoyed the game,” said Hylton.
“When I was out injured it was horrible to sit, watch and wait. It was a moment I’ve been waiting for, for ages.
“I just love football. I love watching Match of the Day and I love the Premier League, but I love watching the Championship and it was something that, when I was a kid, I never thought I’d play there or get to that level.
“But, being in the game and playing it was a league that I always thought, ‘I want to get there’. There are some big teams in the Championship, and it is a fantastic league.
“There are some great players, great teams and now I can say I’ve played there but I’m not going to stop there, I’m hungry, I want to get into the starting 11, I want to keep going, keep playing and keep this team in this division if we can.”
With 58 goals to his name, Hylton was Town’s top scorer of the last decade and, having been out of commission for so long, the striker also revealed he’s got some bragging rights to restore at home over his nine-year-old son, Louie.
“He comes to a lot of the games but he’s been giving me some stick of late, saying, ‘are you ever going to play again?’” he joked, adding: “He plays football so he’s been telling me that he’s the main goalscorer in the house, so I’ve just had to let him have his moment. I’ll have to get back on the scoresheet to let him know.”
And Hylton says that since he returned to training in December, he’s been benefiting from a relatively new working relationship with manager Graeme Jones, who was a striker himself in his playing days.
He said: “Being out injured, I haven’t been around him so, although he’s been here eight or nine months, I’ve only been around him the last seven weeks. The seven weeks I’ve spent with him, he’s great, a top coach, very in depth, very detailed and it’s been great.
“He’s a forward so we do lots of forward drills, lots of finishing drills so I’m really enjoying it.”
After he handed Hylton his Championship debut, Jones said: “Danny played his part and that’s all you want. I spoke about contribution in the first game of this season and that’s all I’m interested in. All I want is people contributing to this football club and I will never ever put you outside of the circle. You do it the minute you stop contributing.
“Danny came on and contributed. He’s played 25 minutes in ten months but when he was ready, he came on and gave us a level. That’s all we want from everybody. If we get that from all the small areas, then we’ll be alright.”
