Arsenal's new signing Cohen Bramall admits he found his first match difficult

The 20-year-old, who joined from seventh tier Hednesford Town earlier this month, remains confident that he will adapt to top-level football

Cohen Bramall was recommended to Arsenal by former Reading manager Brian McDermott (Getty)

Cohen Bramall has admitted that he found it “hard to get used to” the pace of the game during his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt on Monday night.

The 20-year-old pulled on the north London club’s colours in an Under-23s fixture at Southampton, completing 83 minutes of his side’s 3-1 victory.

Following his surprise move from Northern Premier League side Hednesford Town earlier this month, Bramall’s devastating pace was identified as one of his stand-out attributes.

However, Bramall, whose 100m personal best is an impressive 10.9 seconds, conceded after the game that he sometimes found it difficult to keep up.

“It was so fast… it was hard to get used to,” he told the club’s official website. “I just need to do well now, keep training and keep getting better and better. Hopefully, I can get to where I need to be in the future.”

Hednesford, Bramall’s former club, play in English football’s seventh tier and despite his debut coming in a reserve fixture, the youngster could not help but notice a step-up in quality.

“It’ll be a big challenge, because from Hednesford in the league I played in, it was pretty slow and I had a lot more time on the ball than I did here. It was fast and I need to be better and think quicker on the ball,” he said.

“I think in the next game that I play, I’ll be a lot more confident. I can trust my team-mates more and just hopefully get to know the players a lot better.

“It was amazing. I’m just happy that in my first game for Arsenal that we got the three points really.”

Bramall, who was recommended to Arsenal by Brian McDermott, the former Reading manager, claimed that he had his sights set on Arsène Wenger's first team upon his arrival at the Emirates earlier this month.

“It's going to be a big task but I think I can do it,” he said. “Over the next six months I'm going to work physically and mentally and be ready for pre-season and hopefully break into the first team.”