'I got punished' - Brighton defender given baptism of fire on Premier League debut
As far as Premier League debuts go, Eiran Cashin’s was a real baptism of fire – but his honest assessment afterwards was refreshing to hear.
Cashin, 23, was brought in for around £9m from Derby County in January on a deal that runs until June 2030.
The defender made 144 first team appearances for the Rams after coming through their youth academy.
However, the youth international for the Republic of Ireland has been made wait more than two months for his debut.
The moment finally came at the Amex on Wednesday night (April 2) – with Albion a goal down at home to Aston Villa, in a key game in the race for Europe.
Cashin came on in place of captain Lewis Dunk on the 72nd minute.
“It was a shock really,” the 23-year-old said. “It has been a while.
"At one time I didn’t think it was going to happen. It was nice to get out there and I enjoyed every minute of it.
"There are definitely things I thought I did well in the game and things I can definitely do better but all in all a real positive for me and a dream come true, really, to play in the Premier League.
“The fans were excellent when I came on and it’s always good to get a good reception. I think it was obviously long-awaited but yes, the fans were excellent.”
With the Seagulls chasing an equaliser, they were always going to be more open at the back.
And that proved to be the case as Cashin was among those who failed to cope with Villa’s pacey forwards – with Marco Asensio scoring the goal that killed the game as a contest on the 78th minute.
Cashin didn’t cover himself in glory when Morgan Rogers raced past him to set up Villa’s second goal of the night.
Asked if it was a challenging time to make his debut, Cashin said: “Yes, it’s always difficult to come on as a defender or a keeper, probably the worst position to be coming on as.
“You just have to make sure you do everything right, so in that sense it was tough, but I wanted my Premier League debut so I had no qualms coming on.
"You make a small mistake and I got punished tonight but it’s a learning curve and I enjoyed it.
“When you’re losing they are going to sit in a little bit and you are going to see a little bit more of the ball and in that sense it was nice.
"I just tried to keep it as simple as possible, I tried to make the right passes, which I thought on the whole I did. There are definitely things I can get better at but I’ve only been here for two months training and playing at this level so I’m looking forward to getting better.”
Cashin said the biggest step up for him – from the Championship to the Premier League – has been the ‘standards in training’.
He added: “Every small detail matters and you can’t get away with not doing the small things. And that starts with the senior lads, with JP [Jan Paul van Hecke], all the lads, they drive the standard and I think you can see it out on the pitch.
“It has been an unbelievable step up, a big step. I didn’t quite believe how big a step it is. The talent and the mindset and the mentality of some of these players is at a different level to what I’ve seen before.
"So I’m just trying to adapt to it, trying to learn every day. I think the coaches have been excellent with me and the players as well. I am one of those who work hard until I get it right so I’ve just got to keep working.
“The style of play is different from what I was used tout this is the style that I want to play. It’s the style where you will get the best football out of me so I’m still learning, still trying to adapt, still trying to get better. I think that being around the lads and them driving the standards day in day out will only help me improve and help the team.”