MANCHESTER -- Joel Pereira has set his sights on becoming Manchester United's future No. 1 after making his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace.
Pereira, 20, marked his first United start with a clean sheet in the 2-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Portugal youth international is likely to be back in the stands for the Europa League final against Ajax on Wednesday with Sergio Romero set to start and David De Gea on the bench.
But Pereira, described by United manager Jose Mourinho last week as "the best Portuguese goalkeeper of the next generation," insists his long-term ambition is to become first choice at Old Trafford.
"That's what I want to do most and I will work hard for it," he told reporters. "Obviously, I need to be patient, I am a young goalkeeper at one of the top clubs in the world, but my goal is to be the No. 1 of United and hopefully I will get there and I will make sure I do that by working hard.
"I am happy to stay here. I want to be part of the team, part of the squad and we will see how it goes. We have the final, we have to make sure we win, and then I have the [under-21s] Euros, and I come back for preseason and [have to] work hard and give everything, and we will see step by step."
Pereira played nine games on loan at Belenenses in Portugal during the first half of the season before returning to United so Sam Johnstone could move on loan to Aston Villa.
He kept three clean sheet in Primeira Liga, including against Porto, and the youngster feels the short spell helped him return to United as a better player.
He added: "The loan helped me a lot, made me gain experience and some first-team football in the first division in Portugal. I was very pleased to be on loan and coming back I felt better, more confident and a little bit more experience as well."
After making two United appearances this season, Pereira says he will have to wait for his next chance in the first team, most likely serving more time in the under-23s next term.
But he insists he is perfectly placed to make the breakthrough, especially with Spain's No. 1 and Argentina's No. 1 to learn from every day in De Gea and Romero.
"We have two world-class goalkeepers like I have always said and two great people and good friends also," he said. "They always try to help me and to have them as teachers I will say is great. They always help me and they make sure I improve all the time and get better each day.
"It was a great afternoon [against Palace]. I just told myself to go out there and enjoy it and do your best, and things will come. It was great clean sheet, a good start and hopefully it is the first of many."
Meanwhile, Scott McTominay has praised the impact of former United midfielder Nicky Butt after making his first senior start against Palace.
The 20-year-old midfielder got a brief taste of first-team football as a late substitute against Arsenal earlier this month before starting for the first time in the win over Sam Allardyce's side.
After including nine academy players in his squad, Mourinho invited academy chief and stand-in under-23s coach Butt to sit on the bench, and McTominay was pleased to have him there.
"Nicky is a top guy," he told reporters. "He has helped us all the way through this year. He is brilliant at man management and he has prepared us for the times like this where you have to be called upon by the first team.
"It was a brilliant experience [against Palace] with all the young lads making their debuts and having a positive result in the end. We wanted to go out and win the game and that is what we did.
"It was an unbelievable feeling going out there in front of 75,000 people -- the biggest crowd that a lot of our lads have played in front of. You just have got to embrace that whenever you go out there and play like it is a normal game, and go and grab the opportunity."
He added: "I have to go away in the summer and have a good rest and settle my mind and prepare for next season, and really just work hard. Keep doing what I am doing in the gym and outside, and hopefully push, get in the manager's ear and hopefully play some more games."