Mark Cullen signed off last season against Steven Gerrard and Liverpool.

He could make his City debut tomorrow against Barnet, the side currently propping up the Football League.

But the 18-year-old loan capture will not notice any culture shock.

“It’s still a game of football,” he said. “You just head into it and hope you do well.

“I haven’t played for a while so I’m desperate to play and hopefully I might get some good time on the pitch.”

Much is expected of the young striker who has arrived from Hull, initially for a month.

Two League One clubs also showed an interest but the sway of Peter Taylor – and likelihood of more action – swung it with Tigers boss Nigel Pearson.

Cullen was a prolific scorer in the youth team and reserves last term, netting 33 goals in 30 games, to earn a sudden rise into the Premier League.

The staunch Newcastle fan made his debut as a substitute against Sunderland before scoring on his first start at Wigan. He kept his place in the side which rounded off their top-flight stay with a 0-0 draw with Liverpool.

Cullen added: “To play against Liverpool and people like Gerrard and (Javier) Mascherano was just unbelievable. It will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“I’ve played quite a few games this season but mainly off the bench. It’s hard to make an impact coming on for the last 15 minutes.

“I’m just trying to make my way in the game and hopefully a bit of experience at this level can help me push on in the future.

“I’ve seen a bit of League Two football and it looks a decent standard. Hopefully I’ll get a few starts here and score some goals along the way.”

Taylor first enquired about Cullen in March before taking Ryan Kendall from his old club instead. And the City chief has been closely monitoring his progress.

Taylor said: “I’ve spoken to people at Hull and his team-mates that are ex-players that I had there and they speak very highly of him.

“Mark’s not the biggest but he’s a good finisher and a clever runner. If we can play some football, we’ll get him some chances.

“I was really pleased with the way we performed (against Bury) on Monday but we didn’t score enough goals. We need a few more people who are very confident about finding the net and I think Mark is definitely that.”

As Cullen comes in, Jason Price has returned to Carlisle. But defenders Richard Eckersley and Rob Kiernan have extended their loans by another month.

Both impressed Taylor in the win over Bury and he is delighted to keep them on board for the hectic schedule coming up.

“Rob’s desperate to do well and I thought he was absolutely outstanding,” added Taylor.

“I had a go at him afterwards when he said ‘ta ta’ to everybody. I told him ‘don’t say ‘ta ta’ too quickly because the way you performed we want to keep you longer’.

“It’s the same with Richard, who showed what a positive right fullback he is. He’s enjoying playing every week and that’s the thing he’s been missing so much at Burnley.”