Luton defender ​Osho hadn't expected the Premier League to be quite as fast as he discovered

​Having played his first ever minutes in the Premier League at Aston Villa on Sunday, Town defender Gabe Osho admitted the pace of the top flight was definitely much quicker than he had anticipated.

​The closest the 25-year-old had come to the highest tier of English football beforehand had been when named on the bench for Luton’s 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest the previous weekend, injury ruling him out for the start of Town’s campaign.

However, with Reece Burke now absent, and boss Rob Edwards without Mads Andersen, Amari’i Bell and Dan Potts, Osho was called upon at Villa Park for his first outing since the play-off final win on May 27.

With an hour under his belt against a high class home side who ran out comfortable 3-1 winners, on just what it was like to experience the Premier League in person, he said: “It’s fast, I expected it to be fast, but maybe not as fast.

"When we’re on the ball and teams press us at pace, it’s quicker than the Championship.

"That’s why when we get the ball it looks like we’re giving it away cheaply, but they’re coming on to us really, really sharply so we need to do better and keep the ball, not give it back.

“The movement’s sharper, in possession sharper, but I feel like it’s not galactic football."

Osho had known it was going to be real baptism of fire against a free-flowing and free-scoring Villa side, who had racked up 10 goals in their last two top flight games against Brighton and West Ham, although it was a test he had relished, continuing: “They’ve won 12 on the bounce here, so it’s probably one of the hardest places to come in the league.

"But I like that, I like coming in at one of the best levels, because the other games are probably going to be a little bit less than that, maybe not next week!

"But it’s really exciting to play against the best players, I just feel like we need to get some points on the board and do better than we did.”

Although he hadn’t ever played at the level before, boss Rob Edwards had spoken in the week about how he felt Osho was delivering top flight performances when in the Championship last term.

That was a real boost to the confidence of the former Reading centre half, who was making his 63rd appearance for the Hatters since arriving in November 2020.

He said: “I appreciate that, the manager has been amazing with me since he’s come in.

"Last season was great, but I can’t dwell on it anymore.

"We need to win games in this division to stay in this division, that’s my only focus now.

"It is good to hear that from the gaffer, but my focus is on this season.”

Giving his thoughts on Osho’s display afterwards, Edwards added: “I thought Gabe did great, what a difficult game to come into, first Premier League appearance for the club, away at Villa.

"That’s a big plus for us having him back.

"He was just starting to tighten up around the hour mark, we had a plan, the plan was then going to be putting some square pegs in round holes.

"We finished with a few people out of position, and that’s why I was really pleased with how the players ended the game as well as we were very much a makeshift back five towards the end.

"He's a very intelligent lad, very intelligent footballer so he’ll continue to improve and this can only benefit him."