Lewis Gordon is looking forward to rolling up his sleeves and embracing his first taste of senior football – while at the same time guiding St Albans City to National League South safety.
The full-back made his debut for the Saints in the 2-1 loss at home to Welling United, 24 hours after joining from Watford.
And the 18-year-old gave a good showing despite the disappointment of the result.
"I did alright," he said. "It's not nice when you're a defender and you're in a team that concedes two goals but I got forward well and linked up well.
"It's just about getting comfortable and getting to know my team.
"Anywhere that you can play men's football is a good opportunity for me to get a feel for real football.
"When you look at U23 football and you see the way people play you can think it is a bit soft.
"When you come down here and you have a right old battle, it is good."
And he admitted the contest with the Wings was exactly what he expected.
"It was a good battle," he said. "We took a while to get into the game in the first half and the first goal hurt us, it was a sloppy goal.
"Second half we started well and they got a lucky goal, it came out of nowhere and it was deflected.
"We did get a goal back but we were always chasing the game and they did well defensively."
Signing so late in the week meant the young Hornet only met his new team-mates prior to the clash at Clarence Park.
But from what he has already seen, he feels both he and St Albans City can come out of the season with successes in the bag.
He said: "If we stick to what we know and battle together and go into each game with a positive mindset then we can do very well and get out of the situation we're in.
"Having just met the boys today they seem like a good group that want to challenge themselves and do well.
"Everyone seems up the fight.
"Coming into a team that is in a relegation battle is good for me. It will help my mind-set if I was to push on into the first-team as they are struggling as well."
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