JOHNNY Herd hopes to have thrown himself into the first team equation at Southend United.

The 19-year-old left-back, who can almost rival Stoke City expert Rory Delap with his delivery from hand, made his senior Shrimpers debut at AFC Telford on Saturday.

And, having been frustrated at waiting so long for his first appearance, Herd now wants to try and stay in contention.

“I want to be in and around the team and hopefully I did enough at the weekend for that to happen,” said Herd who replaced the unavailable Dan Harding in the starting line-up.

“I was a little bit disappointed earlier on in the season when Dan was suspended and I didn’t get to play.

“I spoke to the manager about maybe going out on loan and he said I could if somebody of a good standard came in for me.

“But he gave me a chance at the weekend and I thought I did OK so hopefully I can stay involved now.”

Herd has been with Blues since he was 15 and has always been highly regarded at Roots Hall.

On his way up through the ranks he captained both the youth and reserve teams and also looked assured against the Bucks.

“I was quite nervous at the start but it obviously helped having someone like Adam Barrett next to me,” he said.

“It was great to play and it was brilliant to see Christophe’s goal go in at the end to make it 2-2.

“I feared the worst before then but now we have a replay and hopefully I can make my competitive home debut in that one.

“That would be another great experience for me.”

Another appearance would also give Herd a chance to show off his throw which certainly caused AFC Telford problems at the weekend.

He appeared to have created a goal for Peter Clarke against the Bucks – only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

But it is an area of his game which Herd enjoys carrying out.

“If you can get it right then it’s as good as a corner,” said the youngster.

“It’s something I’ve always been able to do and I’m not really too sure how. I’m not the biggest so I guess it’s just something in my genes.

“I look to use it whenever I can. I’m not quite up to Rory Delap’s standards just yet but I’m working on it!”

Blues boss Steve Tilson is backing Herd to soon improve even further but was pleased by the youngster’s debut.

“I thought Johnny was a bit nervous to start with like you would expect but he did well considering it was his first game,” said Tilson.

“He stuck to his guns and it was a good experience for him. I’m sure it’s something he will learn from.”

>SOUTHEND’S reserves are in action at Roots Hall this afternoon against Wycombe Wanderers, kick off 2pm.