Former Arsenal youngster’s delight at first Portsmouth goal in challenging pre-season finale

The right-back netted the Blues’ second of the evening, as Danny Cowley named a youthful side to face National League opposition.

Although the 21-year-old played a huge part in the Bees’ opening goal, the former Arsenal academy star was one of the top performers with a number of foray’s forward in the second half.

And the right-back believes his first Pompey goal will only boost his confidence going into the new campaign, which gets under way against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

He told The News: ‘It’s good to get the first goal for the club, in what was a real tough test against a strong National League side.

‘It’s sort of capped off a decent pre-season for me since I’ve come in, the lads have been top, helping me settle in because it’s a new environment for me but I’m enjoying it.

‘I’m loving it so far, getting to learn a new style of football, a new way of playing and under a great manager, so it’s good for me and I'm learning every day.‘I think it’s massive for me to score because it’ll help me with confidence going into the season.

‘It’s new to me, everything is new for me because it’s a different style of football and I’m loving learning something new and I’m booking forward to the challenge ahead.

‘We knew it would be a tough test tonight with a younger side. I think we started a bit slow but we grew into the game and it showed with the result the type of performance we put in during the game.’