Crystal Palace goalkeeper Owen Goodman is enjoying his senior preseason chance.

Goodman, 18, started and played the first 45 minutes in a 4-2 win over Ipswich Town before playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-3 win over Gillingham, and said his assurance grew from the first game to the next.

Speaking after the Gillingham clash, 18-year-old Goodman said: “Ipswich at first I was quite nervous, but once I was into the game I felt comfortable and a part of it. I got comfortable and it felt like I belonged there.

“Today I felt more confident, more comfortable. It was different because it was a night game compared with a noon game, so I had to prepare different and it feels different. I thought I did okay and couldn't do much about any of the goals. I coped, I dealt with it."

The goalkeeper puts that down to the experience of playing with and against professionals, and in the way Academy prospects are treated by their senior teammates.

He explained: “They make you feel part of the group. There's that support element there because we're still young – I'm still 18 – but there's that support element there and they make you feel part of the group. Gaz [Gary Phillips, Academy Goalkeeper Coach] told me yesterday: this game is going to be great, it's going to be fantastic for me, because this is the level he wants me to be playing at… to get experience of it and to learn.

“I feel great. Obviously it's a great experience for me to play against Premier League players, to play against league players, League One, League Two, because that [professional football] is the place I want to play… being able to play against these team is great and learning from the first-team players, Premier League players, is fantastic.

“We're all learning, we're all young. We want to get to the top, that's what our goal is. We just want to learn… we make mistakes, it happens – we're young and everyone makes mistakes. But it's the learning element and experience we're gaining from this."