“That was a good experience,” Cleur said. “I got about 10 minutes as a central midfielder. I loved it. It was one of the most important moments of my career.

Cleur is a star on the rise

“The nerves are understandable but I actually wanted to go on a bit earlier.

“I wanted to show a bit more on the field and I was eager to play. When I was on I felt comfortable.”

As for his long-term goals, Cleur said playing in Serie A, England and with the Socceroos were his dreams.

“It’ll be a very important season for me to set myself up for the next coming years,” Cleur said.

“To get that Socceroos call-up would be a dream come true, but there’s a lot of hard work to do before that.”