Mark Hughes named a very strong team for Wednesday evening’s Carling Cup Second Round match against Port Vale, making just three changes from the side which had drawn against Manchester United in the Premier League days earlier. But one intriguing name on the team sheet was that of Matthew Briggs, the 19-year-old Academy graduate selected to make his full Fulham debut.
Briggs had last turned out for the Whites First Team back in May 2007 as a substitute in the last game of the season against Middlesbrough. In the event, he became the youngest player to ever appear in the Premier League, but it’s been a long wait since then for the England U19 international, so he was determined to seize his opportunity with both hands when it came.
“Since then I’ve been training hard to keep my development going,” he explained. “This season the new Manager has come in, and he’s been taking a look at the players available to him, and I grabbed my chance as soon as it came.
“I found out I was in the squad yesterday after training, but I didn’t know I would be starting until before the game today. I wasn’t really nervous – I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment, so I was just determined to make the most of it.”
And Briggs did just that. Named in an otherwise experienced line-up, his team-mates gave him plenty of early touches, and before long he was supplying the searching cross which found Zoltan Gera who headed Fulham in front.
The teenager was also instrumental in starting the move which led to Fulham’s third on a night of many positives for him to reflect upon.
“Getting involved so early on gave me a lot of confidence, especially getting the assist for our early goal – that really settled me down,” he detailed.
“It was good to be named in a strong team too – with experienced players around me. They helped me settle, and it was a good experience being involved with players like them. Hopefully it will happen a lot more this season.”
His inclusion also proved that Mark Hughes is willing to take a chance on the youth players emerging from the burgeoning Fulham Academy, and Matthew is sure that it will offer encouragement to others like him waiting for their big chance.
“Me getting a chance today was obviously really nice for me, but it will also give some of the other lads incentive to see what they can do if they train hard and impress the Manager,” he considered. “He’s looking at us younger players now, and that’s encouraging for everyone.”
And having played his part in a very convincing victory to see the Whites into the Third Round of the Carling Cup, Briggs hopes Wednesday’s result may prove to be the first step in a long and ultimately successful cup run.
“All the lads were professional today,” he said. “We played how we had to play – stuck to our passing game and our Premier League class showed against a team from a lower division.
“We’ve got a great chance in this cup, so we’ll look forward to the draw for the next round and, who knows? Hopefully we’ll go all the way.”