DEFENDER Adedeji Oshilaja made himself an instant hero with the Newport County AFC fans with a goal on his home debut – and the appreciation is mutual.

The 20-year-old centre-back, on loan from Cardiff City, headed home County’s second goal in the 3-0 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy victory over Portsmouth on Tuesday night.

And the Bermondsey boy was full of praise for the atmosphere at Rodney Parade, insisting he’d be happy to stay at the club beyond his initial one-month loan.

“The crowd were amazing,” said Oshilaja. “Throughout the game I was trying to talk to the rest of the players and I couldn’t hear them at times because the fans were so loud. They are amazing here.

“It’s nice to get a goal on your home debut but the most important thing was that we won and we’re through to the next round.”

Tuesday’s victory was a very different experience from his County debut at Fleetwood on November 2, when he picked up a knee injury in a 4-1 defeat.

“Fleetwood was hard,” he said. “It’s always difficult to go down to ten men after a few minutes but the boys dug in well and I enjoyed that game too, apart from the result.

“There is nothing like Football League experience and in League Two you get beat up a bit, which is good.

“It’s good for my development and the boys have made me feel very welcome. I’m happy here and enjoying going into training every day.

“The boys were talking to me the whole game and they really helped me through it. They made my job easy really and I appreciate it.”

On his goal, a header from Robbie Willmott’s free-kick, he added: “It was a good free-kick from Bobby and the keeper parried it and it was a good finish to be fair.

“I attack corners quite a lot but I’m not really a goalscoring defender. I like to think I am but I haven’t got many goals so far so I’m happy with that one.”

Oshilaja is enjoying the step up from the Bluebirds’ under-21 development squad and is hoping to catch manager Malky Mackay’s eye.

“I’d like to think he will be keeping an eye on me but I’m not thinking about Cardiff right now I’m just concentrating on helping Newport,” he said.

“I’m here to the end of the month and I’m open to staying longer.

“Malky just told me to go and enjoy it and show what I can do,” he added. “I’ve played with the under-21s and now it’s time to get League experience with big men who will rough you up a bit. It’s a learning curve.

“But Justin Edinburgh and Malky Mackay are similar. The way the gaffer breathes confidence into players here is great and it makes you feel so comfortable.”