'I met Portsmouth team-mates four hours before my debut': A breathless - and impressive - start at Fratton Park for ex-Arsenal, Plymouth and Luton keeper
It was a whistle-stop arrival which saw Matt Macey introduced to Pompey team-mates four hours before his debut.
Nonetheless, the towering goalkeeper has proven an instant hit following an impressive opening eight days at Fratton Park.
In a frantic end to the week, the former Arsenal man learnt of the Blues’ interest on Wednesday – and sealed a loan from Luton on Friday afternoon.
It coincided with the unveiling of John Mousinho as head coach, having himself given the nod for Macey’s deal to be completed following Rich Hughes’ hard work.
Still, despite the breathless circumstances, the 28-year-old was thrown in against Exeter and produced an excellent showing as the Blues recorded a first home League One win in four-and-a-half months.
The following match produced another clean sheet and victory, this time at Fleetwood after seeing out the final 21 minutes with 10 men.
Next up is a trip to Peterborough during what has been quite a start to Pompey life for Macey.
He told The News: ‘Sometimes it’s best you go in, get on with it, and don’t have much time to think.
‘I only found out on the Wednesday or Thursday that moving to Pompey was definitely going to happen.
‘There’s obviously so much movement in January and so much talk that I don’t really get too caught up in anything. Only when it’s realistically going to happen do I get a call from my agent.
‘Eventually it went through about 2-3pm on the Friday, so I didn’t get to train with the team. Instead I did a bit of training that afternoon with Joe (Prodomo) the goalkeeping coach.
‘I then met the lads at 11am at the training ground on the Saturday. It was part of pre-match, having a bit of food, our team meeting and a bit of a warm-up.
‘Then I was straight into it against Exeter!
‘It was the way it had to be, there was no other way we could do it. Everything happens differently, sometimes you have a week’s build-up with a team, sometimes you are just straight in.
‘And I’m glad it worked out so well.’
At least for Macey there was Zak Swanson among his new team-mates, a familiar face from their time at Arsenal together.
Now he has plenty of time to adjust to new surroundings, with his loan arrangement spanning the remainder of the season.
He added: ‘I was really happy with Exeter. I made some saves, which is always nice, and beyond that we were relatively comfortable in the second half.
‘At Fleetwood, we were always going to come under pressure in the second half – and having 10 men – but we defended really well.
‘It was as comfortable as you can be with 10 men and they didn't really have any shots on target, which is a credit to us.’