Dara O'Shea received an early Christmas present when he made his league debut for West Bromich Albion on Saturday.
The young Dublin defender made his Championship bow early in the second half, coming on for the injured Kyle Bartley in the Baggies' 1-1 draw with Brentford.
The point was enough to keep Slaven Bilic's side top of the table and the midlands club now enjoy a three-point lead over nearest rivals Leeds, who were beaten on Saturday, in their quest to gain promotion to the Premier League.
"I just wanted to defend."
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) December 22, 2019
Hear from @dara_oshea_ in full following his league debut over at https://t.co/CZ5IBrM5e0 💬 pic.twitter.com/lU4veiisvw
"It's the best Christmas present!" said 20-year-old centre-half O'Shea following the game.
"It was great. It’s been my aim since I signed for the club to get in the first team after signing as a scholar.
It’s a proud moment for me, I am just really glad and I am really happy to have finally made it.
Ireland Under-21 international O'Shea admitted that he was a bit nervous coming on but said that the manager had total faith in him and told him to "just do your thing" before taking the pitch.
"Slaven said just do your thing. Do what you have been doing the whole time. Go out and play your game. He said I am good enough to play so I am well able for it.
"I’m not going to lie I was a bit nervous. Coming on to make your league debut is a big thing. Having not been in the squad the last few weeks and then to be thrown in on the bench and come on and make my debut, it was great. I am buzzing.
Special feeling to make my West Brom league debut, hopefully the start of many more. Another hard earned point at home @WBA 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/nAaR2vDy7R
— Dara O'Shea (@dara_oshea_) December 21, 2019
"I said to myself I was going to come on and keep everything solid and keep the ball ticking and not try and do anything mad. First of all I am a defender so I just wanted to defend and show everyone that I can defend. I thought I did alright, obviously there is improvement to be made. For a debut it wasn’t bad.
"The lads have been congratulating me. They are a great bunch of lads here and they helped me through the game. It made it a lot easier."
Manager Bilic praised O'Shea after the game, who essentially kept a clean sheet for the 40-plus minutes of action, limiting Brentford's attacking three of Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma and Bryan Mbeumo chances in the final third.
"I don't like to praise or criticise the players based on half an hour, it’s a bit amateur," said Bilic, speaking to Birmingham Live.
"But Dara...make no mistake it’s very difficult for a young player to come into the game against a team who is on the front foot and good."
