ON-LOAN Southend United goalkeeper Nick Hayes triumphed on his Shrimpers debut just hours after meeting his new team-mates for the first time.

Hayes joined on a temporary basis from Ipswich Town in time to replace the injured David Martin for Saturday’s 2-0 win at Woking.

And Blues boss Kevin Maher was impressed with how well the 24-year-old dealt with a difficult situation.

“It can’t have been easy for him,” said Maher.

“He met the players this morning but luckily he knows one or two already.

“Dave (Martin) did a great job with him, giving him all the details about how we play.

“But he showed great composure at the right time, he came and got a cross from a corner and made the save at the end despite not having had a lot to do.”

And Hayes was allowed to come despite Blues’ transfer embargo following a hamstring injury to Martin.

“The deal was only done this morning and I think it’s just for as long as someone is injured,” said Maher.

“But it was still going on this morning and we’ll have to see.

“We’ll pick the bones out of what we’ve got next week but we won’t look too far ahead.

“The players will keep their feet on the ground and we’ve got to keep the standards high.

“We’ve got the obvious challenge with the embargo and the number of players but they’ve been brilliant.”