INTERVIEW: A great moment

“It’s all about getting the three points,” he said. “If you get that and play well within it then it’s always a bonus.

“Obviously the game was one of the highlights of my career so far. I felt I played well but it was the same for the whole team.”

And on his first goal of the day, scored with just 38 seconds on the clock, he said: “I don’t even know what went through my mind. It sat up nicely and I just thought to myself – why not? I caught it on the sweet spot and it was one of those where you look up and you just know it’s going to be there or thereabouts. 

“I’ve probably done similar at youth team level but it’s the first time it’s happened for me in a game like that. It’s massive because it helped the team to win and get three points. It was so early in the game that it helped us to settle and we were able to play our football from there.”

But if the volley was good, it was still nothing on what came in the second half with a stunning individual goal which had the crowd on its feet.

“That was a great moment,” he admitted. “I could hear Kav shouting at me from the touchline to run at them, so I did. It all went on from there.

“I don’t think you can plan anything like that. You never know what the defenders will do so you tend to just take your time and see what comes. I’ve heard people compare it to the Ryan Giggs goal, and that’s good to hear, but I just want to keep my feet on the ground. 

“The celebration went totally wrong because I could feel some cramp coming. It was more a case of collapsing and rolling over. Lee Miller jumped on me, and made it worse, and then everybody was there. I was at the bottom of the pile and the next thing Kav’s head popped through! That was very confusing.”

“The reaction from the fans was magnificent,” he told us. “It doesn’t get much better than that. It means everything to me that Kav has shown faith in me because all any of us want is to be getting starts in games. Hopefully there’ll be a few more to come.

“I’ve had calls from a few people at Manchester United, including the reserve team manager, and they’ve told me to keep it up and to keep working hard. It’s been a good move for me and we’ll have to see what the clubs decide once we get to January. 

“I’ve really enjoyed it here and I do feel very confident. Hopefully there’ll be more of the same and I can kick on with my own football and help the team as well.”