Huddersfield Town starlet plays two games for both country and loan club within 24 hours

It’s been quite the year for Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic, who has had to deal with an unexpected opportunity once again after making his EFL debut for Hartlepool United – just a day after playing for his country overseas.

The 19-year-old was called into action for the Terriers in the FA Cup victory at Burnley in January after Ryan Schofield was forced off with a shoulder injury late in the first half and headed out on loan to League Two Pools later that month.

Bilokapic was included alongside Town teammate Jacob Chapman in the Australia under-23 squad for a pair of fixtures in the Netherlands and played against the Dutch under-19s side on Friday evening before flying back to the UK in time to start in Hartlepool’s 2-0 league defeat at promotion-chasing Northampton Town.

Speaking to the Hartlepool United YouTube channel after the game, Bilokapic said: “I’m very pleased and very happy with my debut. It’s been a very strange 24 hours.

“I was told from Huddersfield that anything could happen so get your job done with the Australian team on international duty and get yourself back for the weekend just in case, anything could happen.

“[First-choice keeper] Ben [Killip] has phoned in sick this morning – I hope he’s fine – and it’s just happened so quickly. I was literally eight hours ago in the Netherlands, in a different country.”

He added: “I still had the buzz from yesterday. My legs were a bit gone toward the end; however, I was always ready.”

Bilokapic will be hoping to be involved for his country again at the under-23 Asian Cup later this summer. Australia have been drawn alongside Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan for the group stage of the competition, which will be played in June.

Australia’s senior