Josh Sargent felt ‘very comfortable’ during his Premier League debut for Norwich City but admits he was full of nerves ahead of his cameo against Liverpool.
The 21-year-old had only joined the Canaries five days earlier but was brought on in the 77th minute with his team already losing 3-0 and used his physicality to make an impression, showing good control under pressure.
The USA international also fired a low shot just wide and despite having 70 Bundesliga appearances on his CV, admits to feeling nervous in the build-up to the game.
“To be honest, it won’t come as a surprise to anyone, but I was pretty nervous waking up that morning,” he joked, talking to US football podcast Indirect.
“I didn’t know if I would get on or not but just the thought of playing against Liverpool and in front of a tonne of fans again, which was the first time in a while that we’ve done that.
“I was very nervous throughout the day but once I got on the field, I felt very comfortable and it kind of showed me that if I can do it against Liverpool, I can do it against these other teams.
“So I’m excited to see how the rest of the season plays out.”
The forward, signed from Werder Bremen in a deal initially worth around £8million, was greeted by loud chants of ‘USA, USA’ as he warmed up in front of the Snake Pit.
“I think the coolest thing was the first three guys were told to go and warm up and those are most likely to be the guys that come on,” he continued.
“I went to the corner and all the fans starting clapping and everything, and started a USA chant, and I was just smiling like, obviously that’s really cool.
“It made me really happy just thinking about how I’d always dreamed of playing in the Premier League and that I might actually get the opportunity to go on and play against one of the best teams in the world.”
Speaking to Fulham and USA defender Tim Ream and broadcaster Steve Schlanger, who are both also from Missouri, Sargent joked about getting to grips with driving on the left side of the road and being surprised that he’s struggled to understand the accents of City’s Scottish players – and even some of the English accents.
The youngster has been getting stuck into preparations for Saturday's clash with Manchester City though and is relishing the challenge.
“Easy first few games! We have Leicester and Arsenal afterwards,” he said with a laugh. “So I think we’re going to go into it with the same attitude as we did against Liverpool.
“I think we played pretty well, had a couple of unlucky goals and Salah had a good goal after a set-piece, but we competed with them pretty well.
“We know we’re not the favourites going into these games but everybody knows that if we work as hard as we can and fight the whole game, then we have a chance.”
NCFC EXTRA: Sargent can challenge for Pukki's crown at Norwich City
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