Southampton goalkeeper opens up on fond memories from Leeds United loan spell

The Whites travel to face the Saints in Premier League action on Saturday afternoon as domestic football restarts following the October international break.

Leeds are looking to make it back-to-back wins after toppling Watford last time out while Ralph Hasenhüttl's men are searching for a first league victory of the new term.

McCarthy - who joined the St Mary's ranks five years ago - spent two months with Leeds on loan from parent club Reading at the end of 2011 after landing in West Yorkshire in November before swiftly departing in January.

The shot stopper linked up with Simon Grayson' s squad on an emergency loan deal, impressing with a number of clean sheets alongside a vital injury-time penalty save against Watford to earn his temporary club a point at Vicarage Road.

"It was one of a lot of loans and I had a really good time there," McCarthy told Hampshire Live ahead of the meeting between Leeds and Southampton on the south coast.

"Simon Grayson was the manager and I was a young lad going there. He did a lot for me. The atmosphere there was always incredible.

"He looked after me really well, he was so good with all of the lads. I remember one game at Burnley away, they had obviously sold it out, the away end. The fans are incredible up there."

Asked about how his eight loan spells benefited his development as a goalkeeper, he said: "The first proper team I went to on loan was Yeovil, where I played 46 games, that was a real learning curve for me.

"I had a really good goalkeeping coach there called Ben Roberts, he's at Brighton now and he helped me a lot, and then to get to Leeds it was a massive learning curve.

"I was young, I made some mistakes. I still make mistakes now. It will always be a part of the game. It's about how you adapt and deal with them."