Leicester forward Ayoze Perez has expressed his pride after opening his Foxes' account with a hat-trick in the record-breaking 9-0 win against Southampton on Friday evening.
Before the match, the Spaniard was yet to get his first goal for the club since signing in a big-money switch from Newcastle United in the summer. However, he ended that barren run in emphatic style on the South Coast with a treble of tremendous finishes.
Talking after the game, the 26-year-old praised his teammates for a thoroughly dominant performance and told of his delight after getting his long-awaited first goal for his new employers.
'We cannot be more happy'
Speaking to LCFC.com, Perez said: "Well, [an] unbelievable night! We showed big quality out there. We played very well, a great performance on an amazing night. We cannot be more happy!
“[It has been an] unbelievable feeling to be honest! I’ve been thinking a while about getting my first goal.
“I knew, as soon as the first one came, goals will keep coming and in this case, it ended up in a hat-trick!
“So, it means a lot for me, I’m very happy, very proud of myself, but even more important: the team, what we’ve done out there.”
'We were going to share the ball'
With Perez having not yet got on the scoresheet before the game but seemingly becoming a popular member of the Leicester City squad, he revealed that his teammates were pushing him on to notch his treble at St Mary's. However, he might have to attempt to wrestle the match ball away from Jamie Vardy who also got on the scoresheet.
He said: "I was thinking about the hat-trick a lot to be honest. The guys told me I had to have it in my mind, so I tried to score.
“It was an unbelievable ball by [Harvey] Barnes and then, our No.9, scored another hat-trick, so we were going to share the ball, but we’re having one each!”