After his first taste of the action, Southampton’s McQueen is hungry for more

Southampton defender Sam McQueen was plunged into the deep end when he came off the bench to make his Premier League debut on Sunday 14 minutes into the victory over Burnley, but says he loved every moment.

Matt Targett was deputising for the injured Ryan Bertrand at left-back but soon suffered a problem of his own and manager Claude Puel turned to 21-year-old McQueen.

Featuring for the club he joined originally in 2003, McQueen did not looked fazed as the Saints went on to win 3-1 and preserved their unbeaten home record in the process.

McQueen said: “I just enjoyed it, which is what I wanted to get out of it for my Premier League debut.

(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

“I just wanted to play well and do my best, which I got to do, so I just enjoyed every second that I was out there.

“I’m just grateful that I’ve been given an opportunity and I’ll try now to get a few more.

“I thought I’d be more nervous. But the boys were fantastic and, when I came on, they encouraged me and spoke to me, giving me every bit of advice that they could, which made it easy.

“You do what you’ve been training to do and what you’ve practised for years, and the rest came naturally.”