Fit-again Hao sets sights on Premiership prize with Blades
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-14 05:59

"I will get in the first-team, there's no doubt about that. I hope I can do very well this season and score the goals to help the club win promotion. The most important hope for me is that Sheffield United win promotion to the Premiership."

Despite speaking very little English and having to rely on an interpreter, Hao insists he has not found it difficult to settle in.

"The first time I came here was in 1996 when the Chinese national squad came to prepare for a World Cup qualifier," he says.

"I thought then that the English culture wouldn't cause a problem for me if I had an opportunity to join a club here. I left my home town at the age of 10 to pursue a career in football, so it was nothing new for me to have to settle into a new area."

As well as playing, Hao is involved in coaching at the Sheffield United academy, helping develop the clubs young players alongside United's famously outspoken manager, Neil Warnock.

"Neil Warnock is a very famous manager in English football and I have watched him closely. I've watched him issue instructions to the players and arrange the schedule for the team, so there are a lot of things I can pick up. I want to learn from him and add to my experience."