JORDAN Edwards described the ‘surreal’ feeling he experienced after helping Swindon Town defeat League Two champions Accrington Stanley 3-0 at the County Ground on the final day of the season.

Edwards followed in the footsteps of Scott Twine and Joe Romanski to become the third player to make their first start in the senior team since Phil Brown took charge of the club in March.

The academy product was told by the management team that he’d be making his debut on Wednesday.

Even Edwards admitted he was a little star struck by the occasion as goals from Marc Richards, Keshi Anderson and Paul Mullin guided Town to their biggest win since December 23.

Edwards said: “It was surreal, there’s no better feeling.

“I’ve been dreaming of that my whole life, I’ve just wanted to be a footballer.

“I haven’t made it yet but that was my first step and hopefully there are many more steps to go.

“I wasn’t expecting it (to play in the first team) but I was told on Wednesday, that did come as a bit of a shock.

“I knew I was doing well. I’m thankful that the manager put me in. I’m thankful to the players as well, they spoke to me throughout the game about positioning and small things like that.

“The team helped me out massively.”

Edwards showed great composure with his first touches on the ball and by no means disgraced himself during his first start.

The midfielder admitted he had to block out the 6,000-plus crowd to focus on his game as he praised the club’s overall team performance.

“Hopefully we can kick on next year. We know what we want to achieve,” said Anderson.

“Unfortunately we didn’t achieve that this year but there’s no reason why we can’t achieve promotion next year following a performance like that.

“Before the game I was nervous that I wasn’t nervous. I’m stuck for words.

“It started to feel normal after five minutes, I just locked the crowd out and concentrated on my own game.

“The crowd wasn’t an issue.

“A three-nil win against the champions, it was a great team performance I think.”

Playing at the County Ground proved no issue for Anderson, who was already familiar with the pitch dimensions having trained on it and featured in a Youth Cup Final before.

He said: “I knew the pitch and the dimensions, we’ve trained on it a few times as well.

“The pitch wasn’t anything to get used to.

“The second goal was great.

“James Dunne provided Keshi (Anderson) with a great flick and Keshi finished it well.

“I was right next to it as well, it hit me again. The third goal as well, it was a great feeling.”