'Better than my goal? I don't know!'
Beneath a beaming smile on Jordan Rossiter's face following his appearance against Arsenal was a drive to make such experiences become a regular occurrence.
The midfielder was introduced for the final 15 minutes of a breathless encounter at Emirates Stadium that ended in a goalless draw.
Liverpool should have been ahead before half-time, with Philippe Coutinho hitting the woodwork twice and Petr Cech denying Christian Benteke with a stunning close-range save.
By the time Rossiter entered the action in north London, the home side had turned the tide and were pushing hard for a breakthrough.
But the 18-year-old took the task of helping to see out the game in his stride on his Barclays Premier League debut – despite a slight sense of surprise when he got the nod.
He told Liverpoolfc.com: “I found out I was travelling down on Sunday. I didn’t expect to be coming on in the last 10 minutes, especially at 0-0. But I was made up, over the moon.
“[The manager] called me and said he wanted me to go on for Lucas, with [James] Milner dropping deep and then me pushing on a bit.
“He said to work hard and enjoy it, and to make sure I kept it tight. We got the result in the end.
“The lads were brilliant. We were thinking ‘how aren’t we a goal up, or two or three?’ Their goalkeeper was Man of the Match, I thought – that says it all. They were brilliant and it’s only going to help us going into Saturday and the season.”
Rossiter’s first experience of senior football came last September, when he sensationally marked his Liverpool debut with a goal at Anfield.
The scenes of celebration that followed his effort from long range against Middlesbrough that night were a lasting memory of 2014-15.
And the young Scouser wants to make more.
“I don’t know whether it tops my debut goal!” he said of Monday night.
“But it was another great experience and it’s only going to help me in the future. I just need to push on now – it’s all gone, forget about it.
“Once you get that taste you just want more. But I know I’ve got to be patient. [Jordan] Henderson and [Adam] Lallana were injured and they are going to come back into it.
“But I can only keep on improving every day and hopefully get my chance again.”