FA Cup star's Pompey hope

The young midfielder admitted he’s been in football dreamland after pitting his wits against Arsenal’s stars.

May was part of the Sutton United side who put up a brave display against the Premier League big guns in Monday’s televised clash.

The 18-year-old impressed as his side eventually went down to a 2-0 loss.

It’s been a memorable loan for May after also going up against AFC Wimbledon and Leeds on their charge to the fifth round.

The Academy graduate picked up plenty of plaudits for his composure, as an encouraging spell at Gander Green Lane continued.

The grounded talent is hoping that has shown his parent club the progress he’s making.

May said: ‘It’s been like a dream.

‘But the dream is over and it’s back to reality now.

‘The loan to Sutton has been a real blessing in disguise.

‘I went expecting to get some extra game time, so to get this run with Wimbledon, Leeds and Arsenal has been something else.

‘There were some nice things said about me. They said I was a good, young player on TV and they were impressed. You take that!

‘All the lads are buzzing off me at Pompey. The people at the club were saying I did well and are pleased.

‘The staff said they were proud of me, too, to put in a good performance against a good Arsenal team. I’m hoping they have been watching me and it helps.

‘A lot of people were rooting for me. It’s all been positive feedback.

‘It’s a massive experience, but it’s about reality now.

‘I’ve done it against a team like Arsenal. Now I need to go to Torquay on Saturday and do the same thing.’

May was pleased with his overall performance against Premier League opponents, but rued a missed first-half chance. He knows the experience is one he’ll aways cherish, though.

He said: ‘I felt I did well.

‘We knew a lot of it would be about shape and they’d have a lot of the ball. But when I got the ball I felt I did alright.

‘Obviously I had a couple of chances of which I was gutted about.

‘I was just a little bit off balance with the first one and it got away from me. I was a bit disappointed, but the second one I couldn’t do much.

‘My first touch took me into (Shkodran) Mustafi and I could see Max (Biamou) so tried to lay it off. People were saying I should have shot but I don’t really think that.

‘I’ve got (Alex) Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shirt and it will be one to get framed – when I move into a house when I’m a bit older!

‘Any loss is disappointing but I thought we did ourselves proud. We were happy in terms of our performance but disappointed to be out of the cup. What an experience it was to play, though.’