TED Smith insisted suffering a 2-1 defeat against Accrington Stanley completely took the shine off his Southend United debut on Saturday.

The 19-year-old goalkeeper made a surprise start between the sticks at Roots Hall after Daniel Bentley was forced to miss the match with a groin problem.

But the former King John School pupil was disappointed not to pick up any points on his first start.

“I’ve been here six or seven years now so to get out on to the pitch and play for the first team was fantastic but unfortunately the result took the shine off the day for me really,” said the Benfleet based Smith.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought I did alright but it would obviously have been much better if we had got something from the game.”

Blues’ defeat, which was their first in 11 games, saw them slip down to fifth in the League Two table.

But Smith was still proud and a little surprised to have made his first start for the Shrimpers.

“I knew Bents was struggling but I still wasn’t really expecting to play and it was only half an hour before the warm up I knew I was in,” said the England under 19 international.

“There were 5,000 fans there and everyone was really supportive towards me which I really appreciated.

“It was a big day for me and I would like to think I was quite positive.

“But I’m a local lad so I saw it in the Echo about the clean sheets before the game and it was unfortunate I couldn’t get one to keep the run going but that happens in football. “

The Shrimpers had gone seven home games without conceding a goal before the weekend’s setback.

But Southend boss Phil Brown was adamant Smith was not to blame and heaped praise on his performance.

“I think the lad has a great career ahead of him and for his debut he did well,” said Brown.

“It’s always nice to give a young man his debut but the lads in front of him didn’t defend his goal properly.

“He made good decisions and Accrington manager John Coleman said after the game that he thought he was fantastic for his debut.

“He was thrown in at 1.30pm but he responded very well and so did Paul Smith who supported him all the way through.

“Ted is almost like a sweeper style keeper and that was the main reason why I went for him instead of Paul.”