Sam Williamson, 20, was expecting to be shown the door by the club as his contract is due to expire this summer but now hopes he has done enough to earn a new deal.

Williamson came on as a second-half substitute during the 3-1 win over Portsmouth after Richard Dunne had picked up a hamstring injury - but a week ago had no expectations of making the step-up from the reserves.

He told the club's website www.mcfc.co.uk: "It felt really good. Not so long ago I thought that I wouldn't ever really play [in the first team] because my contract is up in the summer.

"So just to get the chance to play was great, even if that's my one and only appearance then it's been such a great experience.

"I've been thinking about what I'm doing to do when I leave here, but hopefully now I could stay, or at least I've had the chance to put myself in the shop window."

Williamson only found out he was in the first-team squad when coach Derek Fazackerley told him on Friday.

"We'd been out training, and I'd been training with the first team, but I wasn't expecting to be involved. Afterwards, Derek Fazackerley came up to me when I was having my lunch and just told me I was in.

"So it was a bit of shock and I thought: 'Right, change my plans for the weekend then!' I thought he was joking at first."