Joey Barton had plenty of praise for Luca Hoole after the defender played a starring role in Bristol Rovers' win at Oxford United on Saturday, believing the Welshman is on the path to realising his "enormous" potential.
The 20-year-old was recalled to the starting lineup at the Kassam Stadium after four games on the bench and he rewarded his manager with a confident display at right-back that saw him contribute in attack and defence.
Clean sheets have been a precious commodity for the Gas this season, but academy graduate Hoole played his part in a shutout that underpinned Rovers' first win in seven weeks, and he capped his performance with a towering header to make it 3-0 with 15 minutes remaining before celebrating in front of the 1,437 travelling fans.
Barton was hesitant to focus on individuals in what he rated as an excellent team performance to end a seven-game winless run in all competitions, but when asked about Hoole's contribution he shared his delight with the Wales under-21 international's efforts.
"I thought he was excellent," Barton said. "It’s tough to single anyone out in a good team performance like that, but I thought Luca grew and grew and grew into the game.
"He dealt with (Yanic) Wildschut in the first half, who is a tricky opponent, and in the second half he really came into his own. The cherry on top of that is the goal he scores.
"I’m really pleased for him. He is a cracking young player and a pleasure to work with every day. If he keeps that attitude and that level of performance, he has got an enormous future."
Hoole has made 26 League One appearances this season, just three fewer than he made in League Two last season, but this has been a more challenging year for the defender.
Amid a shortage of centre-backs at the start of the season, Hoole found himself in an unfamiliar role in the middle of the back four. There were strong performances but also struggles that are all part of the learning curve, meaning he has bounced around from outside centre-half in a back three to right-back and right wing-back this season without nailing down a regular place in the starting XI.
In the autumn, Barton recognised Hoole's confidence had dipped for the first time since his breakthrough last season after a difficult run of games and the manager took him out of the firing line, leaving him out of the matchday 18 for three straight games. Since then, it has not been a linear return to form, with James Gibbons often starting ahead of him, but Saturday's performance staked his claim for a run in the team at right-back.
The three points lifted the Gas to 13th in the League One table with 41 points with 13 games remaining, cooling any simmering fears that their poor form could snowball into a relegation battle. Instead, the Gas are now 10 points clear of the bottom four.
Their recent poor form has been underpinned by moments of sloppiness and ill-discipline, but the Gas were refocused in Saturday's performance and they efficiently took care of business, with a Scott Sinclair penalty and Aaron Collins' close-range finish putting them two ahead at the interval against a team they shared a place at the bottom of the form table with before kick-off – with head coach Karl Robinson sacked after the game.
"We talked a lot this week about getting the basics right," Barton said. "If we take care of the basics, that gives us an opportunity to build a performance.
"We want to control the ball and play and on a tricky pitch we played at the right moments, but we also had a strategy and a game plan and I thought the lads executed that superbly.
"I must give enormous credit to the boys on the pitch. They were excellent and, as you point out, they had to weather a storm as you would expect. They have got some good players and they would have been disappointed going in 2-0 down.
"They asked questions in the second period, but everything they asked we had the antidote for. If it didn’t get blocked by our defenders, James Belshaw was there to throw his hands on it and make a comfortable save."
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