The defender is now a permanent fixture in Nuno Espirito Santo’s group, having impressed for the under-23s last season, and made his debut off the bench against Fulham in May. The youngster and his team mates have been training at St George’s Park over the past week, before a trip to Asia, and Kilman feels he’s constantly improving in his new surroundings.
On improving in the first-team
“I feel like I’m getting much stronger and more used to the tactical side of the game so it’s helping a lot.
“I think it’s taken quite a bit of time but I’m slowly starting to get better and understanding the role more, understanding what I’ve got to do.
“He’s (Nuno) been very good with me. He’s always wanting me to work harder and harder so I guess I just need to keep going.”
On training intensity
“It’s been very tough, very demanding with double sessions but it’s been good, we’ve been working very hard and we’re all feeling much fitter.
“I think it’s the intensity in training (that is different to the Academy). There’s a bit more running, a bit more focus on working in the gym and the stuff we do so it’s much more demanding on our muscles.”
On Friday’s friendly
“I think it was a good run out. It was a hard week of training, so it was good to get our technique back, being in and around it and knowing how to get back into our positions.
“It felt good to be fair. The week of training has done us very good so we all got straight into it. You can see we felt sharp and fit.”
On the trip to China
“I’m looking forward to it now. It will be a good experience out there, a different climate and different weather so it will be hard to get used to but it’s a good challenge for us.
“It’s going to be very tough, it’s very humid there, but I’ve never been so it will be good.”
