JOE Bursik was unexpectedly drafted into the Accrington Stanley starting line-up in last Saturday's 4-1 win over Portsmouth at the Wham Stadium.

The young stopper on loan from Championship side Stoke City had been banging on the door with good performances in training and then a good showing in the 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the Leasing.com Trophy.

Bursik was delighted to make his Football League debut and wants to make more contributions to the Stanley side.

"It was massive, a moment I’ve been waiting for since you start as a kid," said Bursik. "It was my professional debut, so it was a huge moment. I was just really excited to be honest more than anything.

"Friday night I just couldn’t wait for Saturday to come around and then when it came, I was as focussed as I would expect myself to be and when I got out there, I enjoyed every minute.

"I didn’t want it to end. It was a moment I had been waiting for."

The youngster had found minutes hard to come by and some of this was down to him missing matches due to being away on England Under-20 duty.

"I had a chat with the gaffer about it earlier on in the season and we said it was a bit of an annoying one, I suppose it’s always an honour to go with your country and it’s not something you can turn down," added the goalkeeper.

"It did seem like it got in the way at times, but I just made sure I worked hard on the training pitch and hopefully, it’ll all fall into place as it has.

"I’m happy with how I dealt with the last couple of months with not playing. It is tough when you’re young.

"I’ve moved away from home and it’s the first time I’ve lived on my own. "It was a tough one, but I hope I can keep doing what I’m doing, and we’ll go from there."