Wes hopes boss will want him right back!
DEFENDER Wes Harding has no plans to relinquish the right-back spot when Blues take on Ipswich Town this weekend.
The 21-year-old is still buzzing after making his Championship debut in the 3-0 win over Hull City.
A promising product of Blues’ academy, Harding loved his first experience of the Football League, and is keen for more.
“Exactly. One hundred per cent,” he said. “It is a massive achievement. I am happy to make my family proud. I am proud of myself doing it.
“But it doesn’t stop there for me. I want more and more – that’s the plan.
“I want to be starting the next game. I just want to play. I plan to carry on working hard in training.”
Blues clearly see plenty of potential in Harding. He was handed a contract extension last month, tying him to the club until the summer of 2020, long before new first-team boss Garry Monk gave him his big break.
And Harding’s inclusion against Hull was not fortuitous or triggered by availability issues elsewhere in the squad.
Monk simply preferred the youngster over former England international Carl Jenkinson and Marc Roberts.
Harding considers himself a “pretty confident person”, but admits to feeling nervous ahead of the match.
His two previous first-team appearances were both in the Carabao Cup and in no way prepared him for a Championship game of such magnitude.
“This was completely different,” he said. “Obviously, one, I was starting; two, the circumstances now compared to back then were different.
“If back then was similar to now it may have helped, but this was something on another level.”
Harding, who swapped Aston Villa’s youth set-up for Blues’ in 2013, wasted little time in imposing himself on his Championship bow.
The Leicester-born defender was cautioned after only nine minutes for a crunching, late tackle on Harry Wilson.
“I thought I was going to get the ball,” Harding explained. “You have got to leave your mark, especially in your first game.
“I felt before the start that I needed to stamp down my authority and nine minutes in, I did that!
“I didn’t want a yellow card that early but it was my plan to let my opponent know I was there.”
Monk praised Harding’s “good maturity” in his post-match press conference, but the former Swansea boss opted not to single out the youngster in his dressingroom debrief.
“The gaffer just concentrated on the lads. That’s what I expected,” Harding added. “It was about the team, it was a big game for everybody, not just me.
“He congratulated everybody on what we did. The lads came up and said ‘well done’ and stuff but being the gaffer, he was concerned about the team, which is right and I understood.”