‘Quality, absolute quality’: Bristol City arrival on a Portsmouth home bow he’ll never forget

The new arrival from Bristol City produced an impressive display which contributed significantly to 2-0 success over Exeter on his full Blues debut.

It meant Pompey put their 10-game winless league run to bed on John Mousinho’s first game in charge after succeeding Danny Cowley.

Towler caught the eye with some eye-catching blocks and distribution on an occasion the 20-year-old will not forget.

He said: ‘I was absolutely buzzing to play at Fratton Park.

‘Being a football fan you know how big of a club this is.

‘So to play at Fratton Park on my home debut, keep a clean sheet most importantly the win, ‘I’m absolutely buzzing.

‘It was everything I expected it to be.

‘Some of the boys let me know how good the crowd is, but you don’t really know until you walk out in front of them.

‘It’s quality, absolute quality and just a brilliant experience.

‘We worked hard, we pressed and we battled.

‘We won our second balls and we won our tackles.

‘In the end it allowed us to get on top and we deserved the three points.’

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Towler, with his arrival following shortly after Cowley’s sacking.

Mousinho then came in at the end of last week and had just a single training session to get his messages across before Exeter.

The message was a clear but concise one from the new man at the helm going into his first game.

Towler added: ‘It’s been a bit of a buzz.

‘You can see the impact getting the new gaffer has made.

‘There was a buzz around the stadium, so get to the three points on his first game and my home debut was just brilliant.

‘He just wanted us to go out and enjoy it.

‘He wanted us to enjoy it and work hard.

‘Everyone was together and we won our tackles - and that was meant we got the three points in the end.’