HARROGATE Town boss Simon Weaver praised loaned out Saints defender Derrick Abu's "amazing" club debut on Saturday.

The 20 year old, who joined Southampton in the summer, had not played a senior game prior to making his League Two debut on the weekend.

The right-back was thrown in against League Two leaders Stockport County and helped his side secure a 1-1 draw.

"Derrick came in and proved that he is a cool customer and he is going to be great for us,” Weaver told the Harrogate Advertiser.

“It was a brilliant debut. For a lad making his Football League debut, it was amazing. After the game, the lads gave him a round of applause.

"For me, he defended astutely, and for someone so young, performed so maturely. He was very composed and calm.”

Abu made his debut less than 48 hours after joining the Sulphurites on loan until the end of the season.

"I don’t think that Derrick has ever been as far north. He’s based right down in Southampton and had a long journey up Thursday night and signed," Weaver added, explaining why he threw Abu straight in.

"I rang him when he was on his way, he was just heading towards Nottingham and I said ‘as long as you get up here safely and find your destination, you are going to be playing on Saturday, so I hope that you have brought your boots.’

"I brought him in because, when you look at our depth of squad compared to most at this level, we haven't got lots and lots of players.

"So, we brought him in to have every chance of being good enough to prove himself to play every week, but at the same time we do need a level of competition for places.”