Friday 24 October 2014 12:30, UK
On-loan Aston Villa striker Callum Robinson believes the learning curve of his loan spell at Preston is providing invaluable experience.
The England Under-20 international is at Deepdale until January and is currently playing for a North End side on a run of six wins on the spin. Robinson, who has already played Premier League football for his parent club, is discovering what the Football League is all about with the Lilywhites and has soon discovered the difference between competitive and non-competitive games. "I just want to get first-team football, get the appearances and experience playing with men instead of playing with the development squad" he said. "It's your profession now, it's not a joke. Every day I'm here I'm learning, playing in the first team and hopefully I can go back to Villa with loads of experience. This will help me massively, even just being around the place and getting games. "It's a much quicker pace, you have to be stronger and the fans as well - you get 9-10,000 at Deepdale. You're playing with men; it's not like the Under-21s where you can go through the motions." The 19-year-old admits he is trying to absorb as much information as possible while on his loan spell and, in North End's top scorer Joe Garner, he has an ideal striker to aim to emulate. "Joe Garner's one of the best strikers I've seen live," Robinson added, "He scores goals, he's always a threat and he's just a pest to centre-backs. I can learn off him loads - learning where to put your body with defenders and winning headers. "I'm learning a lot with Joe and Gally (Paul Gallagher) and players who have done it in the leagues for years. On and off the pitch I'm learning every day."