The 22-year-old delivered an adept performance alongside Marc Guéhi, making an impressive four tackles, four clearances and two interceptions to help his side to an eye-catching 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Selhurst Park.
Fresh from the jubilant scenes which greeted Michael Olise’s injury-time equaliser and secured a valuable point, Richards smiled: “It was amazing. It was good to get a result at home, especially with the way we played. I enjoyed the game.
“It was worth the wait! Being able to make it [my first Premier League start] at home, especially in a game like tonight, was amazing. Being able to get a result at the very end, it was very special for me.
“I think you could see on everyone’s faces that we were really elated and relieved that we got what we deserved, which was the [Olise] goal at the end.”