Aaron Martin was delighted to lead Saints out at his former stomping ground on Monday evening.
The 20 year-old marked his return to the Silverlake Stadium by wearing the captain's armband to skipper a young Saints side which ended up 1-0 winners over the Spitfires, thanks to Sam Hoskins' first half goal.
"It felt great. I was over the moon when I was told I was captain of the side tonight," he said.
"I got a great reception and it was nice to see a few of the lads that I played with when I was here. It was a good performance by us though and a good win as well.
"It was very strange to play against my old teammates especially Tom Jordan who I used to play a lot with at the back so it was strange to mark him and just watching him play, as I'm used to playing alongside him.
"I thought that we all played well and everybody was up for it, we expected what we were going to get, and it was a good performance all round I thought."
With a first full pre season at Saints now under his belt, Martin is determined to go from strength to strength over the forthcoming campaign, but admits he still has a lot of work to do to force his way into the reckoning.
"I've got my head down and worked hard, as a lot of the lads have and I just can't wait for the season to start now. I'm looking to play in as many games as I can now and if I get my chance, hopefully I'll take it.
"I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing, get my head down, work as hard as I can and then hopefully my chance will come.
"The coaching staff have taught me so much and I've learnt a lot from Radhi and Jose too, so I just want to keep working hard and take my chances.
"I feel like a completely new player. I'm comfortable on the ball and I'm much more confident about heading the ball and all round just relaxing a lot more, making the right decisions when I need to.
"I just can't wait for the season to start, but I've just got to try and get in the first team and play as many games as I can to cement my place.
"Everyone is raring to go now so that we can work as hard as we can and win as many games as we can too."
