Josh Murphy sends Toby Steward two-word message after EFL debut heroics
Portsmouth prodigy Tony Steward made his EFL debut on Friday and has received plenty of plaudits.
The 20-year-old joined Crawley Town on an emergency seven-day loan earlier this week and was thrust straight into the starting line-up for the trip to League One champions Birmingham City.
The Pompey youth ace kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw at St Andrew’s on Friday (18 April) and his performance has done little to dampen expectations surrounding the young stopper.
Murphy reacts to Steward heroics for Crawley
The young star has been tipped for be the Fratton Park outfit’s future number one and John Mousinho will have taken notice of his latest exploits.
The Englishman took to Instagram (19 April) to share his delight after the biggest moment of his career so far, saying: “Buzzing to have made my full professional EFL League One debut with Crawley Town, great to round it off with a clean sheet against the league champions.”
Josh Murphy reacted to the post by commenting, saying: “Nice work.”
Current first-team goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid also commented, saying: “Well deserved.”
Paddy Lane also congratulated Steward, saying: “Haha, nice lizard buzzing for you mate.”
Steward set for huge future at Portsmouth
The future star has been on non-league loans with the likes of Wealdstone, Gosport Borough and Tonbridge Angels but had not seen a taste of EFL action until now.
Exposure to senior football at a similar to that where Pompey are right now will only help his development and he will take a lot of confidence from keeping a clean sheet against the best team in the division that are set to be in the Championship next season.
| Stats | Steward v Birmingham |
| Saves | 3 |
| Recoveries | 10 |
| Goals prevented | 0.72 |
| Minutes played | 90 |
Schmid has been the clear number one for the last few months and it is unlikely that he will be overhauled anytime soon as he is performing exceptionally, but the future is very bright for Steward.
The best move would be to send him on another EFL loan next season to get him to required experience and then eventually make his senior bow for the South Coast outfit.
He will be hoping to extend his loan with the Red Devils and keep impressing to work his way into Mousinho’s plans in the near future.
Pompey fans will be encouraged by his latest display and will be keeping a close eye on his progress in the next few months.