McCarthy aims to 'set a marker' on loan at Kilmarnock

[Getty Images] Hull City centre-back Cathal McCarthy hopes to "set a marker" and prove he can play first-team football during a season-long loan spell at Kilmarnock. The 19-year-old has joined for the campaign from the newly promoted Premier League side, where he made six appearances last term. The Republic of Ireland Under-21 international said: "I spoke to Liam Millar back in Hull, who spent time here, and James Furlong who was on loan at Motherwell. Both loved their time in Scotland. "I want to set down a marker, prove to everyone that I'm good enough to play regular first-team football. As for the team, we want to push up the table and do better than we did last season." Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann added: "He's a player that we looked at in January. It never happened but we kept tabs on him. "We've had lots of very positive conversations with Hull. They've had a great deal of interest - from clubs north and south of the border - to get Cathal out on loan because of the impact he had on their first team. "He's a defender that's shown lots of promise in the early stages of his career, and we're hoping to play a big part in his development, like we did, for example, with Findlay [Curtis] last season, and what we're looking to do with Bailey [Rice] this year."