MAKING his senior debut for Grimsby Town was a proud moment for Paul Walker, but it was not in the circumstances he would have wanted.
With the Mariners thin on the ground for defenders following injuries to Clayton McDonald and Sam Hatton, the second-year YT was named on the bench for the weekend defeat to Nuneaton.
And when Aswad Thomas was sent off in the 43rd-minute, Walker knew that his time had come.
"The gaffer told me at half-time that I was coming on and just to look after myself defensively and enjoy it," he told the Telegraph.
"It certainly wasn't the circumstances that I wanted to make my debut in but it was still a massively proud moment for me."
Walker went on to equip himself well at full-back in difficult circumstances, slotting in alongside Shaun Pearson, Chris Doig and Paul Bignot.
And afterwards the former Oasis Academy Wintringham pupil admitted it was difficult to reconcile his pride at making his debut alongside the disappointment at the morale-sapping defeat.
"I thought I did okay I guess," he said.
"It was tough in the second half, there was a lot of hard running – there's hard running when you've got eleven but even more so when you're a man down.
"Everyone worked hard and whether we were just lacking a little bit of quality at times I'm not sure.
"It was difficult with the result but I enjoyed it and it was good to make my debut.
"It's good for my development and let's hope that's the first of many.
"It would be good to get back training with the first team and play again."
