Academy duo reflect on debut strikes

With centre-half Lloyd Jones too, the Liverpool youth contingent sealed a temporary stay with the League Two outfit at the beginning of the year and have wasted little time in making an impression.

The trio featured for the full game as Paul Buckle's side battled from behind to claim a much-needed 2-1 victory over Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.

A superb strike by Dunn levelled the contest before the interval and, in stoppage time at the end of the opening period, Stewart chipped in with a goal that proved to be the crucial winner - a moment he will not forget in a hurry.

"It doesn't get much better than scoring the winner on my debut," said the former Tottenham Hotspur defender. "I don't think I've scored a winner since I was a little kid so I was really happy to score.

"I think I owed the team that because I lost the ball in the build-up to their opening goal. It was the perfect start to get the win, which was the main thing for the team to get them higher up the table and hopefully we can go on a little run now."

During his days at White Hart Lane, Stewart enjoyed a loan spell with Crewe Alexandra, but he admitted playing in League Two was a very different test.

He commented: "I found it a lot different to when I was on loan at Crewe. This was a lot more physical and played at a high tempo and you don't get a lot of time on the ball.

"So it was a new experience for me, but I'm looking forward to the next game. The main thing I came here for is to get as many games as I can and get some experience, so I was really happy to play the 90 minutes."

As for 20-year-old Scouser Dunn, he is now targeting more goals after an injury-hit start to the campaign that saw him sidelined for the first three months.

Dunn said: "It was a great way to start the New Year, with a win and a goal. I was buzzing to make my league debut and this is a new experience for me because I've never been on loan before, so I'm looking forward to this new challenge.

"I've been practising on different types of finishing and fortunately it came off. The goal came on my weaker foot and I've worked so hard [for] the past two years to improve that.

"I have been watching Sergio Aguero, who is one of the masters at turning with his back to goal and getting a shot away, so I've been working tirelessly on that in training, so it was nice to see it pay off."

He added: "This is a different type of challenge. You are not going to play on an impeccable pitch every week so you've just got to deal with what you have got and adapt.

"This is a totally different experience to playing U21s football and it's a great opportunity for us to get as many games as we can under our belts.

"It's fantastic to have Lloyd and Kevin with me here. We know each other's game so well and it's a great experience for us."