Former Galway United winger Jay O'Shea admits he was stunned by his debut at Manchester United last week.

Just days after signing with Brum, O'Shea found himself facing his boyhood heroes as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 defeat.

"I couldn't believe it to be honest, it was like a dream," O'Shea told the Sunday Mercury.

"It still hasn't sunk in, it will hit home when I get home and see my mates because they couldn't believe it either. They were just watching the game to see that I was on the bench and I was happy with that. When the manager called me to go on, I couldn't believe it. It was amazing.

"It happened really quick so I didn't get the chance to feel any emotions, it was like going on for any other game. Then afterwards it hits you that you've just played in front of 70,000 people against the team I've supported all my life.

"When the squad was called I thought that I'd just be travelling and get the experience but I noticed that there was only 18 and this year there is seven subs, I was delighted to get on the bench.

"Me mam had come over because I didn't think I was even going to be in the squad so she was going to spend a weekend in Birmingham with me. When I got the call that I was in the squad, I got her a ticket so it was good that she got to see me making my debut in England.

"She couldn't believe it because she had brought me over five or six times to see Man U when I was a kid. The fact that she was sitting in with the Birmingham fans and not cheering Man United for the first one was unbelievable, she said the emotions were unreal.

"It summed up the whole week. Within the space of a week I was playing for Galway United in Ireland, then I signed on my birthday which was a great present and then getting in the squad was like a dream, but to actually get on was out of this world."