Kevin Thornton is desperate to prove that he can be City's missing link in midfield this season.

The young Irishman started his first game of the season in Saturday's disappointing 2-0 defeat at Leicester after impressing as a substitute in recent weeks.

And even though he was frustrated by his performance against the Foxes, Thornton is adamant he can add a creative spark to the side.

"I'm happy to be back involved and to get my first start of the season but my performance was not good enough compared to what I know I can do," he told Sky Blues, the Club's award-winning Official Matchday Magazine.

"I think I let myself down a bit so I've just got to go back into training and work twice as hard at everything.

"I felt like I had been coming back to my best after a couple of good substitute appearances. The gaffer gave me my chance and I wanted to go out and prove to him that he was right to do it. I wanted to show him what I can do but obviously things didn't go to plan.

"It's a massive disappointment, especially after the result we got against Blackburn. The lads know that we didn't play the best and we've just got to put it behind us, crack on and try to get back to winning ways on Saturday."

Injuries have held back the skilful star's progress since he first caught the eye on the first-team stage towards the end of the 2005/06 season.

But he insists watching from the sidelines has made his determination to succeed at City even greater, adding: "I got injured at Sunderland last season and was gutted because it set me back a few months.

"I then had a bad ankle injury during pre-season and when I came back from it the team was doing really well so I just had to knuckle down to get back into the side.

"Hopefully my career will kick off now because I have had bad injuries in the past but they are all behind me and hopefully I can just kick on and have a good year.

"I've been training harder, going to the gym a lot, eating the right food and looking after myself. I've grown up a bit and the fans seem to like me but at the end of the day it's the gaffer that picks the team so I've just got to show him what I can do. "

You can read an exclusive interview with Kevin in Saturday's Sky Blues Magazine against Burnley, which also features the latest from new City Chairman Ray Ranson, winger Ellery Cairo's Magic Moments and look out for a Head-to-Head thriller between Marcus Hall and Robbie Simpson - all for just £3.