Tareiq Holmes-Dennis is relishing life at Oxford United and would happily remain at the Kassam Stadium for longer.

The 19-year-old has been a huge success since joining on loan from Charlton Athletic and last week the two teams agreed to extend his stay until January.

But Holmes-Dennis is flourishing as United’s first-choice left back and says his sole focus is just on playing every week.

“I’m very much enjoying it here,” he said.

“It’s been a good start for me. The boys are fantastic and it’s all about getting game time.

“I’m really happy that my loan has been extended. It gives me the chance to get more football and more experience under my belt which is just what I need.”

When asked whether he would want to see his loan extended further in January, he replied: “I’d be more than happy.

“I’m just want to be playing week in week out.

“I’m loving every game that I am involved in and my aim is just to make sure I am in the starting line-up each week.”

  • Latest Sport news

The step up from youth team to playing senior football each week is huge, but Holmes-Dennis seems to have made the transition with relative ease.

The teenager feels he is continuing to improve with every appearance he gets under his belt, but says there is definitely more to come, especially in an attacking capacity He said: “The intensity of the football has been the biggest change. When there were three mat-ches in eight days when I first joined, that was tough, but I think I have adapted well.”

“As the games have come I am getting more and more confident in getting forward to help out.

“You can’t get away with going forward as much as possible in professional football because you leave space in behind that people take advantage of.

“You have to think wisely when to go and when to stay so that’s all part of my learning curve.”

Holmes-Dennis says the whole U’s squad were buoyed by last week’s FA Cup win at Grimsby Town, and are determined to take it into the match at York City tomorrow.

“We got the win on Saturday and we have to build on it,” he said.

“We know we have got what it takes here, but we need to string the results together.

“There hasn’t been a game where we have been completely dominated, so it is frustrating that we haven’t got more points than we have.”

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.