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Kortney Hause stronger after tough tests

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Wolves youngster Kortney Hause insists he will be stronger for his share of Championship 'tough love'.

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The 19-year-old defender has enjoyed a breakthrough season which has seen him rise from the club's Under-21s to a loan spell at League One Gillingham, appearances in England Under-20s and finally elevation to the Championship with Wolves.

Hause made 17 Championship appearances – all at left-back – after the same number in all competitions for the Gills earlier in the campaign.

But it's the tougher tests where he admits he has learned the most, such as when he was taken off at half-time of the 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough when he was given a torrid 45 minutes by winger Albert Adomah.

"Exactly. I think being a young player, playing in games like that, even if things don't go well, you've got to have the mental strength and the mental toughness to go back home and recap on what you did and didn't do," said Hause, who was a £175,000 buy from Wycombe in January 2014.

"You've got to have the mental strength to bounce back, which I think I've got.

"I just think the harder tests are the ones that really make you as a player."

Londoner Hause was preferred to the far more experienced Scott Golbourne in some games in the second half of the season.

And he admits he found the Championship a step up after figuring in the Under-21s and League One and also in League Two, where he had played during his two years with Wycombe.

But he believes he has coped well and is ready for more.

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"Some games have been a step up, although I think it depends on the opposition," he said.

"I've felt comfortable at left-back in some matches, which isn't really my position, but some games against the better teams you feel a little bit more tested.

"But I think I've coped well with it.

"I've probably played more of my games at centre-half so I might have found it a little bit harder.

"But I think I've done OK and got to grips with it."

Hause credits the decision to send him to Priestfield from July to November as a masterstroke in his development.

"It was a good chance for me to gain more first-team experience at a better level than League Two," he said.

"I enjoyed my time there and learned a lot.

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"The gaffer called me back, took me in and put trust in me and gave me the opportunity to play for Wolves' first team which was very pleasing.

"I was very happy with that.

"The gaffer said it was a good opportunity for me to get more first-team experience because I'd not had that much first-team experience at a young age of 17, and I did that and felt better for it."