St Kilda schoolboy Josh Battle says it’s surreal that his AFL debut against Essendon on Friday night will be made alongside a player he has idolised in Nick Riewoldt.

The 18-year-old year 12 student will replace suspended forward Tim Membrey for the Etihad Stadium clash as the Saints gun for their fifth successive win.

Battle says he grew up worshipping the talents of former skipper Nick Riewoldt, who is almost double his age at 34.

“I idolised him as a kid, as I guess all young kids do and looked up to him so getting the chance to run out alongside him is pretty special,” Battle told the club website.

Recruited with pick No. 39 – St Kilda’s second pick – in last November’s national draft, Battle’s impressive endurance and precision in front of goal earned him the call-up.

After their stunning success against Richmond last round coach Alan Richardson said he preferred “like for like” in elevating Battle for Membrey.

“That’s part of the reason that Josh came in as we had other options,” Richardson said.

“We could have brought in another midfielder and pushed someone else forward such as Blake Acres, who has done some reasonable work for us forward but we felt Josh was most likely the one to be able to reproduce that similar mix.”

Battle said he tried to base his game on the likes of Hawthorn premiership star Jack Gunston, West Coast’s Jack Darling and teammate Membrey.

“I look up to the third tall forwards like Jack Gunston, Jack Darling, even Tim Membrey; so it’s really good working with him,” Battle said.

“I try and bring some livelihood in the forward line and tackling pressure, work rate and getting up and back.”