Tommy Doyle hopes to be Hamburg's hero more often after super-sub showings
Bundesliga 2 may not yet have seen much of Hamburg's on-loan Manchester City midfielder Tommy Doyle, but what the 20-year-old has produced in only eight minutes on the field is enough to whet the appetite for more.
Only minutes after entering the field on Friday night, Doyle fired in the winner for Hamburg against SC Paderborn, earning them three important points in their pursuit of promotion to the Bundesliga.
"As soon as Tommy got the ball from Kinso, I was already turning away to run towards the fans and celebrate," said Jonas Meffert. "There was no doubt he was going to put it in. Sensational."
Watch: Paderborn 1-2 Hamburg - highlights
A week after earning the northerners a point with an assist to an own goal in the 1-1 draw with Erzgebirge Aue, the England U21 international was Hamburg's humble hero.
"I'm delighted with the goal, but the most important thing is that I could help the team and we were able to pick up three important points," Doyle told reporters. "We've had a few games lately which we've not finished off so we're all the happier to have managed this today."
The win lifted Hamburg to sixth in the table, still seven points behind city rivals St Pauli, who are leading the way, but just four adrift of second-placed Jahn Regensburg and Schalke.
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With a DFB Cup clash in Nuremberg on Tuesday night and Saturday's Bundesliga 2 derby clash with Holstein Kiel making it a busy week for the Red Shorts, Doyle will fancy his chances of getting more than just a cameo role in the coming fixtures, and that is a prospect that not only he is excited about.
"Of course I'd love to see more of him on the pitch," said Hamburg's sporting director Jonas Boldt. "I'm not at every training session and it's the coach who weighs everything up, but if he keeps going, he's bound to get a chance and I'm sure he's going to get more and more as the season progresses, and maybe he'll get to start a few times."
In the meantime, Doyle and his parent club Manchester City will continue to enjoy the brief moments of joy like the one he provided on Friday night.
"Of course I'd love to be playing more, but this is football and when you get the chance, you've got to take it," Doyle said. "Thanks to this fantastic assist from Kinso, I fortunately took it."
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