Swansea City's Rory Donnelly is raring to get underway
11th July
Rory Donnelly will be looking to make up for lost time this season after a frustrating second half to the last campaign.
The young striker enjoyed a hugely successful pre-season last term, netting four goals during three games in the club's tour of Holland.
He then went on to make his full debut in the Europa League play-off second leg tie in Romania against Petrolul Ploiesti.
Donnelly was also prolific for the club's Under-21 set-up before a loan switch to Coventry City ended prematurely due to personal reasons.
It saw the 19-year-old return to the Liberty but unable to play for the Swans due the loan agreement with the Sky Blues.
But now, with Donnelly part of Garry Monk's squad currently in America for their two-week tour, the Northern Irishman hopes there are brighter times ahead.
"It was a bit of a strange year for me," said Donnelly. "It went well at the start - I'd scored a lot of goals in pre-season during the tour in Holland and I also made my first start.
"The loan at Coventry didn't work out so I had to come back. It meant I couldn't play when I returned to Swansea as the loan hadn't expired.
"So while it was frustrating not to be playing, I just had to train as hard as I could to maintain my levels of fitness and sharpness.
"The manager has shown faith in me to include me on the tour, so my way to repay him is to score goals."
Being involved in the club's triple training sessions have also paid off for Donnelly.
He added: "I've learned a lot from playing against Ash (Williams) in training. Going up against him has made me a lot better player.
"He shows 100 per cent every day and he sets the level.
"It's so hard to try and get past him, but he's always talking to me to help me improve. Things like when to hold the ball, when to lay it off and when to make runs - he helps with everything.
"Hopefully I can show in the games what I've learned from him in training."
