Dyche: It was 'an absolute dream' to make my Cobblers debut

Teenage defender and academy prospect Max Dyche described making his Cobblers debut as 'an absolute dream' after he came off the bench during Saturday's Sky Bet League One fixture with Crewe Alexandra.

The 17-year-old fulfilled a lifelong ambition to play professionally for the Cobblers when he got the call from manager Keith Curle to replace Christopher Missilou and slot into centre-back with 71 minutes on the clock at Gresty Road.

"It was an absolute dream to get the call to come on and make my debut," beamed Dyche. "I've been with Northampton's academy since I was seven years old so coming all the way through and playing for the first-team is a dream.

"As soon as he called me over to come on I had a massive smile on my face and was just super excited. It was absolutely brilliant and I'm thrilled to have made my debut."

It was something of a baptism of fire for Dyche as Town, down to 10 men following Joe Martin's red card, were pinned back and under relentless Crewe pressure. Eventually the home side's dominance paid through Ryan Wintle's goal deep into stoppage-time, but Dyche enjoyed being in the heat of battle.

"Generally I thought I acquitted myself quite well," he added. "There was maybe a bit of naivety from me at times but obviously it's only my first game for the club so I was just trying to get to grips with it - make your first clearance, make your first header etc.

"But I felt I made the right decisions generally. There's obviously more to come but I'm really happy with how I've started. Having that first experience of playing with the first-team is an unbeatable feeling and it was a pleasure to make it onto the pitch."

He relished being thrown into the deep end too, adding: "It was really tough but I'm stepping in to do a role for the team and I think coming on in circumstances like that, you can't be put in a much more difficult situation.

"But it's all experience for me and it's all helping to shape me into the player that I hope to be. I thought I worked hard and the team worked hard all the way to the end, and I was pleased to make my debut, even though it was obviously really frustrating to lose at the end."