Kioso: It was a great feeling to make my Luton debut against Manchester United

Luton defender Peter Kioso capped a quite remarkable 12 months by making his Hatters debut against a star-studded Manchester United side in the Carabao Cup last night.

Rewind 12 months, and the full back was starting his second season in the National League with Hartlepool, lining up for the Pools in their 2-0 home defeat against Dover.

That day he was up against the likes of Inih Effiong, Kurtis Cumberbatch and Steven Rigg, as the visitors ran out 2-0 winners.

Fast forward a year, and Kioso was facing an altogether different prospect, handed a first start for the Hatters.

As if that wasn’t a big enough occasion in itself, the 21-year-old was sharing the same pitch as Dutch international Donny van de Beek, a £35m summer signing from Ajax, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Odion Ighalo to begin with.

On making his Town bow in the 3-0 defeat, Kioso said: "It was a great feeling, yesterday I found out I was going to be in the starting 11, knowing it was going to be my full debut as well.

"But as a player you need to be ready when the gaffer calls upon you and I needed to show what I was capable of.

"Hopefully I did that, but the result is a little but frustrating so it kind of dampens the mood a little bit.

“There will always be a difference, it's quicker, faster, stronger, but I’ve always said, especially on the day that I signed, if I didn't think I was ready, I wouldn’t have made the move, I would have just stayed in the National League.

"It is a great feeling to know that I’m moving forward in my career, but there’s still a lot more to do.”

As if the previously mentioned quartet weren't enough of a test, with the score only 1-0 to United with 15 minutes to go, Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer threw on England internationals Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Portuguese star Bruno Fernandes.

The trio enabled their side to take control in the closing stages, with Kioso charged with marking Rashford at times in the latter stages.

On seeing the substitutions make their way on to the field, the full back continued: "As a player it was like me watching them on TV, it is good, but that’s an outsider, as a footballer now knowing that I need to play against then, I can’t be in awe of them.

"I can't sit down here and be like 'wow, that's amazing,' but it is good to play against them, although at the exact same time, I have a job to do on the pitch.

"I can’t show them too much respect, and that’s what I tried to do.

“It is interesting coming up against him (Rashford) and it definitely does show you how quick he is as well.

"A couple of the boys are battering me in the changing room, saying that he’s left me, but I said 'hey, nothing you can do.'

"We played against a very quality team team and it was just a great performance from the boys to show we can do it.”

If you thought Kioso's rise from National League to the Championship had been meteoric, then it gets even better, as he spent the 2017-18 season plying his trade in the Southern League for Dunstable Town.

Back then, he couldn't have imagined how his career was going to take off, saying: “No, honestly, I couldn't have.

"Playing for Dunstable Town, not getting paid and everything, they helped me so much in my career though.

"There’s so many people to thank, I need to thank God, because without God I wouldn't be in this situation, but so many people I need to thank who've helped me get to where I am, but there’s so much more to do.”

Kioso, who had come on against Reading in the previous round, was told he was making his first Town start on Monday, but even if he hadn't had time to prepare mentally, felt he would have been ready for the challenge.

He sai: “As a player you always need to be ready whenever the gaffer calls upon you.

"If that’s five minutes before kick-off, two minutes, you always need to be ready.

"I feel like I was ready, I tried to put in a very high performance, a very good performance, just to show the gaffer that whenever he needs me, I’m ready to play."

On what his instructions were going out there, Kioso said: "The gaffer said to me, 'don’t have any fear, go out there and play your game', and that’s what I tried to go out there and do.

"I tried to work as hard as I could defensively and attacking, get on the ball all the time.

"If you’re a player and afraid of making mistakes, there’s no point in playing, so I knew there was going to be mistakes now and then, but it’s just about getting my head down and playing as hard as I can.

“I thought I did well, there’s always areas for me to improve on, attacking, defending, it wasn’t a complete performance in my opinion, especially from me, but I’m not the main person here.

"I think the team performance was amazing, the attitude of the boys was great and it is frustrating that it ended 3-0, I didn't think it was a 3-0 game.

"But unfortunately that’s what happens when you have some players that they have, the quality that they have.

"One chance can lead to a goal, but the boys did excellent and I feel like we put in a great shift."

Kioso almost capped his debut in style when the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box in the first half, only to slide waywardly side.

He said: "I was thinking about that yesterday before I played, 'what celebration will I do if I scored?'

"The boys were laughing at me as well, saying that's not my best thing, but it happens.

"We all did great and I'm just proud of the boys' performance."

When asked to sum up his defender's first start, boss Nathan Jones added: "I thought he was excellent.

"He didn't look out of place and the fact he was playing for Hartlepool last year, to make his debut against top. top players, shows that we're in a good place."