Portsmouth keeper on his Crawley Town debut at Birmingham City
Emergency-loan keeper Toby Steward said that he was pleased to be at Crawley Town after he kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Birmingham City.
The League One champions were on the front foot early on, but Steward kept the Reds in the game with some important saves.
Crawley grew into the game as it progressed, but the Blues still looked like a threat, with Steward making more key saves to keep them in the game.
Apart from one poor touch, it was a faultless performance from the 20-year-old, who enjoyed the occasion.
Steward said: “Yeah, brilliant. I'm so pleased to be here, and it was a good first game from all the boys. But yeah, it was a really enjoyable game to be part of.”
The Pompey goalkeeper was alerted only a couple of days before the Birmingham game but was always going to take it with excitement.
He said: “It was very quick. I think maybe two days or literally a day before I came up is when I got told.
“I got told straight away it was Birmingham the first game. I was so excited for it, and I've really buzzed for it. I'm glad that it all happened. It was really good to make [debut].”
Steward admitted that he was full of nerves and adrenaline at the start in front of over 27,00 people, but thanks to the back line he was looked after.
He said: “There's always nerves, but it sort of equals out with adrenaline. Like you say, that definitely helped, that one-on-one. But the boys looked after me brilliantly.
“All those lads at the back, Dion [Conroy], Charlie [Barker] and Rudders [Ben Radcliffe].
“Dion is a very experienced player. He helped me out throughout the game. He put as much trust in me as I put in trust in him.
“I just tried to perform as well as I could to prove him that I can play. He was really good to me, and I really appreciate it.”
His seven-day loan will keep him at the club on Easter Monday when Crawley has a massively important home game against Exeter, with Steward already looking forward to the challenge.
“Every game is its own. We'll go into Monday with the same mindset of trying to win.
“We could have won today, but a point is a good point against a good side. We'll go on Monday just as energised.”