Cardiff City winger Kieron Evans who is 21 years old later this year, has spoken of how he benefitted from his end-of-season loan at Linfield, although admitted he would have liked more game time at the Belfast club.
Evans was one of the bright stars to come through the Cardiff Accademy and started the season for the Bluebirds.
The winger has been down recently to non league Torquay regarding going out on loan for next season, but the non league club have not yet confirmed they will take up the option.
The winger broke into Mick McCarthy's first team last season before it was decided that a stint away would be advantageous for a player who had really only played youth-team football.
He played just five games in five months, though, as David Healy's side romped to the league title, with the manager largely opting for tried-and-tested options rather than young loanee Evans. But the Brithdir-born youngster still saw the positives from his stint in Northern Ireland.
Kieron Evans
“This loan spell has benefited me massively," he told the Linfield website. "It has introduced me to men's football which is a lot different to development football. Particularly, the physicality of the Irish League was a learning curve for me, because what I’ve been used to across the water is mostly just technical and tactical. Men's football and physical players has taught me a lot in my short time with Linfield.
“This was my first time out on loan, my first time leaving Wales, and I won the league, so this club will always hold fond memories for me. I’ve enjoyed my time here, the experience has been great.
“My team-mates have been brilliant since I came in. They welcomed me to the club and to Northern Ireland right away. As I said, it was my first time leaving home but they made it easy for me to settle in and they’re a great bunch of people. The same goes for the staff."
Evans is expected to head out on loan again for the whole of next season, having recently gone down to National League side Torquay for a day's training ahead of a potential loan move, however nothing has come of that just yet.
Kieron Evans has played 5 times for Cardiff City and five times for Linfield.
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