MARK Travers admitted he was "gutted" at forgetting to ask for the shirt of opposite number Hugo Lloris after his memorable Cherries debut.

Travers, who turned 20 last week, made his top-flight bow at Vitality Stadium for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month and produced a string of fine saves. The goalkeeper was named man-of-the-match in the 1-0 success and kept his place for the final game of the season against Crystal Palace.

That earned Travers another call-up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad and he will hope to make his international debut during next month's Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Recalling the clash against Spurs, Travers said: "The night before, you think about everything, but it only hits you in the tunnel when you look across and he (Lloris) is standing there.

"I think it just gave me more confidence to do well, it didn't make me nervous. I felt I was meant to be there."

"(After the game) he just pulled me and just said, 'well done' and 'keep going'.

"I'm gutted I didn't ask for his jersey, but it was just in the moment that I forgot to ask for it. Hopefully another time."

Travers, who hopes to push Ireland's first choice Darren Randolph for his place in the upcoming games against Denmark and Gibraltar, went from the high of victory over Spurs to conceding five at Selhurst Park just eight days later.

He said: "I learned even more from the second game about myself. It was good to have that contrast in games and I'll learn loads and take that into next season as well."

In the meantime, Travers is hoping to be a surprise package in the Ireland camp on both the training pitch and the golf course when Mick McCarthy's men take a break from training on Friday.

As a 14-year-old, he had a handicap of four and might have gone down that route as a professional until football took priority.

He said: "That's all I did up to 14 or 15. I was probably going to play golf instead of football until under-16s, when I started going on a few trials and football took over.

"In the end, I thought football was the better decision.

"As a goalkeeper you're sort of by yourself in games (like golf). The psychology is quite similar and it can be quite lonely.

"You have to put mistakes behind you and not be afraid of anything.

"It helped me with my football career, getting that experience in front of people."

Asked if his team-mates were aware of his past, he said with a smile: "Not yet. I'm going to keep that one for myself. I may put a bit of money on it and see what happens."