'We asked a lot of him' - Portsmouth keeper makes League One boss 'proud' as he keeps Birmingham out on Football League debut

The Fratton Park stopper answered the Reds’ goalkeeping SOS by joining them on an emergency seven-day loan on Thursday.

And he was thrown straight into the deep end - after just two training sessions with his new team-mates - with a starting place in Crawley’s line-up for their Good Friday trip to St Andrew’s.

Facing Steward in Birmingham for Brum’s first game since they secured the title last weekend without kicking a ball was a strike force that contained £15m striker Jay Stansfield and Alfie May - two players with 33 league goals between them this season.

Chris Davies’ side are also the division’s top scorers with 73 goals and the fourth-highest goalscorers in England’s top-four divisions.

So there was no pressure, with the 20-year-old also named in a Crawley side that’s embroiled in a relegation battle at the foot of the League One table!

Yet Steward came through the test superbly by keeping the champions at bay for only the third time this season in League One - and giving the Reds a glimmer of hope in their battle against the drop.

Indeed, he set the tone straight away by denying Stansfield early on as he raced through on goal with just the keeper to beat.

Steward, whose only experience of senior football was at non-league level prior to his temporary move, is now expected to feature against Exeter City on Monday.

He should approach that game with confidence, after hearing what Lindsey said about his performance.

The Crawley boss said: ‘I thought he was brilliant. We asked a lot of him as well, coached him in quite a lot of detail yesterday (Thursday) about how we get control from them deep areas, how we play out from goal-kicks.

‘I thought (defender) Dion (Conroy) really helped him well in terms of weight of pass, angle of supporting positions, distance of supporting positions, all that.

‘He got it spot on, Dion, and helped him really well and made it kind of easy for him in many ways.

‘But, yeah, I thought he was brilliant and obviously a clean sheet against a top, top side.

‘You know, you've got Alfie May, you've got (Jay) Stansfield, you've got some top, top players in their team. But he did great. I'm really proud of him

Praise for Steward on Football League debut

Lindsey wasn’t the only one singing Stewards’ praise after the game.

The Crawley fans were also impressed with what they saw from the Blues Academy product.

@JamesHo67179629 wrote on X: ‘Toby Steward, young keeper from Pompey, last minute emergency loan to Crawley Town, making his debut away against high flying Birmingham who have scored in every game so far and keeps a clean sheet. Well done that lad.’ @SteveHerb77 commented: I thought he was outstanding! What a debut from the lad! Please get him back in the summer on a season long loan!’ Meanwhile, @CrawleyRumors posted: ‘Fair play Toby.’

Steward signed a new two-year deal at Pompey last summer, with the club also having an option for an additional 12 months.

Here’s currently behind Nicolas Schmid, Jordan Archer and Ben Kilip in the pecking order at Fratton Park.

For your next Pompey read: Portsmouth rivals Cardiff sack manager Omer Riza following Sheffield United defeat and ahead of final three games of Championship season