Three points, a goal and an assist: Danny O’Brien admits his debut for Chester FC couldn’t have gone much better.
The 19-year-old, on a month’s loan from Wigan Athletic, spent time at arch rivals Wrexham earlier in the season but his opener in the 3-0 win at Altrincham on Tuesday guarantees his sojourn across the border won’t be held against him.
Chester boss Steve Burr utilised O’Brien as a wing-back and the Leigh-born teenager gave an excellent account as the Blues ended a five-game winless run in the league.
"It was a great result and it can’t get much better than that; I got a goal and had a hand in the third as well," said O'Brien.
"I’m there to create chances, that’s what I’ve been brought in to do and luckily enough I did that on Tuesday.
"The gaffer has brought me in and said he wants me to get crosses in the box and create chances.
"He knows that I’ve played wing-back this season because our first-team play it at Wigan so the development side try and play the same system.
"He told me to get up and down the line, create chances and make sure I did the defensive side of it because the lad Josh Ginnelly causes quite a lot of problems for them."
Read: Jim Green's verdict on the Blues victory at Moss Lane
O’Brien, who moved to Wigan in the summer after leaving Aston Villa, gave Chester the lead at Moss Lane with a fine finish, bringing down a cross from Ryan Lloyd and thumping the ball past a frozen Tim Deasy.
"I just tried to keep it down really and it could have gone anywhere but luckily it flew in," said the winger, who represented England under-17s during his time at Villa Park.
Chester are now eight points clear of the National League’s bottom four and have an excellent chance to further increase that gap this weekend at Kidderminster Harriers.
The Aggborough club have had a season to forget and sacked both Gary Whild and David Hockaday. Chief executive and majority shareholder Colin Gordon placed himself in charge and three straight victories have given them an outside chance of survival, although a 2-0 defeat at Cheltenham Town midweek brought ended their winning run.
Read: Altrincham win was reward for supporters, says Steve Burr
O’Brien, who has settled into life at Chester quickly thanks to a helping hand from Craig Mahon, who works for the Wigan Athletic Community Trust, isn’t too concerned about Chester’s results this season, believing the performance against Altrincham should give them confidence to take into the game with Harriers.
He said: "I knew a few of the lads here from playing with them a few years ago and I know Mahony from Wigan so it’s not been a problem settling in.
"I think you’ve got to take each game as it comes really. Obviously we’ve not had good results in recent weeks but we had a good win on Tuesday and hopefully we can go on and get another good win at Kiddy as well.”
