Gunners defender excels in debut

4:49pm Tuesday 7th October 2008

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ARSENAL defender Mikael Silvestre enjoyed the 'perfect' debut with the Gunners in the reserve side's 3-2 win over Stoke City on Monday.

The Frenchman, who joined from Manchester United in the summer, played his first 90 minutes for the club after recovering from an muscular strain, and he said his first match could not have gone any better after attracting praise from reserve coach Neil Banfield.

"I feel good," Silvestre told the club's website. "I got through the 90 minutes without any discomfort or pain and physically I felt at the same level as my team-mates so it felt good.

"The boss [Arsène Wenger] asked me if I wanted to play because it was a long time since I last played competitively, back in August or July with United. Before I get back with the first team it was good for me to play and get something other than training.

"It was a perfect run-out before playing with the first team. It is a good level in the Reserve League and getting to know my young team-mates was a good experience.”

Silvestre insisted he was not surprised by the quality of his young team-mates, who have already made a big impression in the Carling Cup, having beaten Sheffield United 6-0 in the second round last month.

"It is not a surprise [to see how good the young players are] because most of the first team are 20, 21-year-olds so the quality is always there,” he continued. “I expected the same quality in the Reserves and most of them train with the first team so I knew them already.

"Everything is done to play good attacking football so the players enjoy it and you just have to make sure you give 100 per cent in the challenge because if you don’t get the ball you can't play the nice football."