NEW Wales star Connor Roberts knows he has big shoes to fill at right-back and he’s ready to learn everything he can from Chris Gunter.

Newport-born Gunter holds the record for the most Welsh caps by an outfield player with 88 appearances.

The 29-year-old Reading star is just four behind outright record-holder Neville Southall and has long been tipped to be the first Welshman to reach 100 caps.

But Gunter’s chances of reaching that landmark could now be in jeopardy after Roberts’ impressive performance in Tuesday’s UEFA Nations League victory over the Republic of Ireland.

The 22-year-old Swansea City defender shone as Wales romped to a 4-1 win in Ryan Giggs’ first competitive match in charge and he did something in his third appearance that Gunter has never done –score an international goal.

“It’s been a whirlwind eight or nine months for me,” said Roberts, who ended Gunter’s run of 63 consecutive appearances for Wales.

“I found out on Tuesday morning and obviously I know the history of that right-back slot. Chris Gunter has played a lot of games there for Wales so I was just happy to be in there.

“I look at him a lot. I don’t think he’s missed a [Wales] game for eight or nine years and he’s a very experienced international footballer so obviously I can learn from him.

“You’ve got the likes of him, Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale who have done it at the highest level so I can only learn from them and improve.

“Hopefully one day I can achieve what they have achieved.”

Roberts insisted there was no animosity between him and Gunter – apart from some possible jealousy over his superb strike.

“He might be a bit annoyed that I’ve scored but if he plays ahead of me in the future I’ll be more than happy if he gets on the scoresheet,” said the Neath-born youngster.

“He just said ‘good luck’ before the game and ‘well done’ afterwards.

“It’s no big deal, it happens in football – you get left out of the team – but we’re all Welsh and we’re all together. We’ll support each other all the way.”

The goal, Wales’ fourth of the night, was the first that Roberts has ever scored.

“It was my first ever professional goal so it’s a sweet night for me and hopefully in the future I can get a few more,” he said.

“It was mad. I looked up to my left and Gareth Bale was there passing it to me – usually that would only happen on FIFA!

“It was on my wrong foot but I just concentrated on hitting it well and thankfully it went in.”

Roberts hopes to keep his place for Sunday's match against Denmark in Aarhus (kick-off 5pm).

"If I get given the nod then obviously I’ll do as best as I can again but if I don’t I’ll cheer on the lads," he said. "Hopefully we can put on another good performance and get what we deserve."

And the youngster is full of praise for new national manager Giggs.

"He’s very hands-on and intricate in what he’s telling us and he’s picked a lot of young lads as well as the older heads so I think the only way is forward for this team," he added.