Hasani is keen to get career back on track
GATESHEAD’S ninth signing of the summer, Lirak Hasani, is keen to get his career back on track after rejection from hometown club Doncaster Rovers.
Hasani, whose parents are Kosavo Albanian, made his debut for Doncaster at just 16 and went on to play 16 games for the club as a teenager.
Eleven of those appearances were in League One and he started December’s televised defeat at home to Sunderland.
His last run out for Rovers came a month later and now, just turned 20, he wants to play a part in Gateshead’s acclimatisation to life back in the National League.
The midfielder came on midway through the second half of the opening-day draw at Dagenham and Redbridge and hopes to be in the 16 for the home opener against Barnet on Saturday.
He previously played one game on loan at Gateshead in the curtailed 2021/22 season, having come in on a half-season loan.
Hasani said: “I always wanted to sign at Gateshead because of the feeling I get playing here, it is a great place to be.
“I only had a tiny taste last time I was here on loan – I ended up playing one game due to Covid – but it is the same intensity.
“First and foremost I want the team to do well, but on a personal level I want to be starting games.
“I feel I can bring something different to the team and play in my own style.”
Eve-of-the-season signing Hasani’s hopes of early game time have increased due to injuries and five players going out on loan.
Academy graduates Kyle Errington, Lewis Leech and Eddie Thomas have linked up with Newcastle Benfield, while Connor Pani and Ryan Wombwell have joined Morpeth Town on seasonlong loans. Three players, meanwhile, were sidelined at Dagenham where Stockport County loanee Ethan Pye had to be replaced in the first half.