Former Huddersfield Town defender Michal Helik admits he has been “hungry” to play Championship football again after sealing his move to second-tier side Oxford United.

The centre-back departed the Terriers at the back end of last week to join the U’s, with the defender making his debut for his new club in a 1-0 victory against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Having played in the Championship for four consecutive seasons prior to Town’s relegation last term, the centre-back said that his desire to play in the second tier was a key factor in his decision to make the switch to the Kassam Stadium.

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“I think it is the right place for me,” the defender told his new club’s website. “I spoke to a lot of people, and they highly recommended me the place here, the club and the people who are working here.

“It is Championship football, so I was hungry for the last half of a year for that, and I’m really looking forward to being here.”

The 29-year-old has left Town after a two-and-a-half year spell at the club, where he made 100 appearances and scored 13 goals. Helik won the club’s player-of-the-season award in both of his full campaigns with Town, but the centre-back believes he can continue to progress his game further.

“I’ll try to do my best to help the team,” said Helik. “I’m still learning, so I will try to help the players, and learn from the players and the staff obviously, but I will try to share my experience to [get] the best out of the team.

“It’s a bit of experience, I’m not going to lie, but I don’t like to think that I’m old and I’m experienced, because I still feel that I’m really hungry. I want to learn every day, improve every day, so I am trying to use my experience, but I’m still trying to learn every day.

“I’m still improving. I’m a professional athlete, so I’m doing my best to keep my shape well, and I hope the best is still in front of me. I’m joining this football club because I can see it’s really ambitious, and I hope we can reach our goals together.”

Helik is hoping to continue finding the back of the net with his new club, with the defender having been Town’s top goalscorer last term with nine strikes.

“It’s really important, I always used to love scoring the goals, because it’s a great feeling that you can obviously score, but as well help the team to get a win,” he said. “Obviously I’m trying to help the team as much as I can in both boxes, so I’ll focus on defence, but if I can score and help the team to win, I will do it.”

The U’s moved up to 15th in the Championship table with their victory on Saturday, a result that left them six points clear of the drop zone prior to Tuesday night’s fixtures.

Having opted to switch the Terriers for second-tier football, Helik spoke of the importance of his new side retaining their Championship status come the end of the campaign.

“I came here and I’ve got one aim for the rest of the season, to stay in that league,” the centre-back said. “In the end, I think we should aim higher than that, than just staying in the league, and I will do my best every day to win every game to reach our goals.”