Maurizio Pochettino has said he will be grateful to head coach Xisco Munoz for the rest of his career after he was handed his senior debut on Saturday.

The son of Paris Saint Germain boss, Mauricio, was brought on with ten minutes of regulation time remaining as the Hornets were beaten 2-0 by Brentford in what was ultimately an inconsequential game.

However, for the 20-year-old, it was a day he is unlikely to ever forget, as he stepped onto a pitch as a senior professional for the first time.

"I'm going to be really grateful to [Xisco] for the rest of my career, because this is a dream come true for me," said Pochettino in an interview for the club website. "I wish the season just started so that I could maybe get some more opportunities like this, but I guess I'm going to have to wait until the new season. Hopefully I can keep getting involved and I just can't wait for more of this sort of opportunities.

Picture: Ryan Gray

Picture: Ryan Gray

"The staff, the manager, the players, everyone's been really really welcoming and it's really easy to fit in when everyone receives you with open arms and it's just been really good experience so far."

The nature of the match meant that the result did not matter at all, with Watford already promoted to the Premier League next season, so Pochettino was able to enjoy the occasion a bit more than he might have otherwise.

Having made his first senior appearance, he is now eyeing up more in the near future.

"As I was getting ready to come on, I was thinking about just to going out there and trying to enjoy as much as I could," he said. "This is something I've been working really hard to get since I was young and now that I had the chance to go out there, I just wanted to enjoy it as much as I could and learn as much as possible from this experience.

"These experiences to just make you want to push on for more. I'm really, really hungry and determined to make this the first of many, and I just can't wait to get more opportunities like these because they really have made me happy."