And he is delighted to have secured the services of Welsh, with whom he has developed a strong working relationship during their time together on England Under-21 duty.

Taylor, who combines his role as Hull boss with coaching England Under-21s, said: “John is a very good player and someone I know well from my time with England, so I’m delighted to have him here for the season.

“He’s always impressed me with his attitude and application to the game, which came as no surprise to me given the excellent upbringing he’s had at Liverpool.

“I’ve made him captain on the Under-21s on a couple of occasions because I’ve every faith in him as a player and a person.

“I’m hoping he can come here and quickly establish himself in the team. He’s tenacious, he can tackle and he sees a pass, but not only that, he’s a very solid character as well.”

The combative midfielder’s style of play has drawn comparisons with Steve Gerrard, and Welsh admits modelling himself on the Liverpool skipper.

But Welsh, 21, who has been at Anfield since the age of 10, has struggled to establish himself in Rafael Benitez’s plans.

He came off the bench to make his Champions League debut against Bayer Leverkusen last season and played a part in Liverpool’s run to the Carling Cup final.

He signed a new contract committing himself to the club until the end of the 2006/07 season but his path to the Anfield first team this term has been blocked by the close-season arrival of Momo Sissoko from Valencia, with Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Dietmar Hamann also ahead of him.

Taylor added: “Liverpool are one of the biggest clubs in Europe and it’s always going to be hard for a young lad to gain regular first-team football when you’ve got players of the quality of Gerrard, Alonso, Sissoko and Hamann there.

“But this is a great opportunity for John to come here and play regular first-team football and then see where that takes us.

“Hopefully if all goes well it will become a permanent move, but John will of course be coming here aiming to prove he’s worthy of a place at Liverpool.”

Welsh goes straight into the Hull squad to face Blackpool in the Carling Cup tomorrow, while 19-year-old Liverpool winger Robbie Foy has joined Wrexham on loan until January.