MARCEL Hilssner deserves praise after being thrown straight in for his Latics debut, according to boss Harry Kewell.

The Coventry City loanee started Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Walsall in what was his first competitive appearance in English football.

The 25-year-old arrived at the Sky Blues from SC Paderborn in his native Germany last summer but has not featured for Mark Robins’ side this season.

The winger suffered with a breathing issue not long after joining and has been playing catch-up ever since, with a temporary January loan switch seen as the best option for him.

Hilssner only trained with his new team-mates on Friday afternoon and Kewell was wary of his lack of match action. But the new man impressed against the Saddlers, playing 83 minutes and nearly marking his debut with a goal before being replaced by Kyle Jameson.

“He’s a fantastic player and we knew what he was capable of,” Kewell said.

“We do need to get him match fit, which will take time.

“It was great to see him out there. He loves football, just wants to play with a smile on his face, and credit to him for starting and playing over 80 minutes, which was fantastic.

“He’s a confident player, he wants to play, and I think that will help us.”

For his part Hilssner says he has realised a dream by moving to England and after his initial frustrations, is now looking to make up for lost time at Boundary Park.

“I’ve been here for half a year now featuring regularly in Under 23s, but that is not the level I want to be at, I want to step it up in England and take my fitness level higher and make my whole game bigger and better,” he said.

“I’ve already had a few long chats with the new gaffer and he’s spoken so passionately about what he wants from his team, what he wants from me and has given me an idea already of how to improve my game.

“I want to make my own impact here in England. I don’t want to go home in the future wishing I could’ve given so much more, so I’m extremely grateful already to have a club who wants to see what I can do.

“It’s been a target of mine to make it as a professional footballer over here and this is a great chance to get games every week and to get into a rhythm, which hopefully means I can repay the faith shown in me.”

Hilssner signed a three-year deal with the Sky Blues last summer so knows making an impact with Latics could see him handed a chance in the Championship next season.

He is the sixth loanee at the club, with Kewell only able to name five in each match-day squad.

The dilemma will come soon, but was straightforward at Walsall with Bobby Grant missing out as despite being back from his three-match ban, the forward has recently been struggling with Covid-19.