Aston Villa's Revan relieved after finally making his Cobblers debut

Relief was the overriding emotion for defender Dominic Revan after he finally made his Cobblers debut on Tuesday.

The young centre-back had to wait over a month to walk out at Sixfields after joining the Cobblers on loan from Aston Villa shortly before the summer transfer window closed.

Injury and a lack of match fitness delayed Revan’s debut but he played the full 90 minutes against Walsall in the Papa John's Trophy.

“I think I had a pretty good game,” said the 21-year-old.

“It was nice to finally play again because it’s been a long time since I played a match but I enjoyed being back out there, especially playing at home.

“It was more about match fitness and that’s why I needed to play – because it’s been such a long time. I did have an injury towards the end of last season which I’ve been coming back from.

“I’ve worked really hard to get to this position where I can play 90 minutes and thankfully I got through the game without any problems so it’s all good.”

Revan’s pace was his most eye-catching attribute.

He got his team out of jail with impressive recovery speed on more than one occasion, but the highlight was a 60-yard burst down the left flank, skipping past several defenders in the process.

“I saw the space ahead of me and I used my pace to just drive with the ball,” he explained. “I heard Mitch (Pinnock) shout ‘keep going, keep going’ so I just carried on running!

“Unfortunately the cross at the end wasn’t the best, but it just came natural to me at the time and that’s what I like to do – to step in and use the space in front of me.

“I enjoyed the game and Fraser (Horsfall) helped me a lot, he’s obviously the captain and he’s very vocal and was speaking to me quite a bit.

“It was unfortunate that we lost in the shoot-out. We conceded early, which was disappointing, but we grew into the game and played some good football and got the goal that we deserved.”

Now up to full speed, Revan hopes to force his way into the team on a more regular basis.

“I always want to play games, that’s why I’ve come here,” he said. “My aim is to get into the starting line-up so I’m going to take every opportunity I’m going to get and I think I did that on Tuesday.

“I’ve not yet spoken to Aston Villa after the game but I will be in touch with them and I’m regularly in contact anyway so I’m sure we’ll talk about my performance.”