Steve Morison believes Oliver Denham has a bright future in the game following his efforts for Cardiff City at Hull City.
The 19-year-old made his first Championship start for the Bluebirds in the 2-1 loss to the Tigers last time out having featured against Brighton and Liverpool in cup competitions earlier on in the campaign. After a poor start, the visitors improved against Shota Arveladze's side, with Denham ending the contest having made three clearances and one tackle while his pass success rate of 86.2% was bettered only by Ryan Wintle and Mark McGuinness.
Now, Morison has opened up on his pre-match message to Denham and his verdict on the youngster's potential. "He wasn't someone we wanted to get out of the building in the loan window," the Bluebirds boss said. "He's someone I think who has got a really good future ahead of him.
Read more: Steve Morison laments Cardiff City's 'shambolic' early defending at Hull City
"Like I said to him before the game, 'you're here because you're a good player. We wanted you to stay and be around and your opportunity would come'. His opportunity came and I thought he was excellent, especially considering the start of the game. He could have gone into his shell, but he didn't and I thought he got better as the game went on."
Defeat at the MKM Stadium means Cardiff remain in 17th spot in the Championship with five matches left to play. Having already secured their place in the second tier, there has been an increased emphasis on preparing for the 2022/23 campaign and head coach Morison feels fans can relish the impending summer shake-up at the club.
How many points will Cardiff gain in their final five matches of the season? Have your say in our comments section here.
"It is now [about next season] in terms of planning and that next stage," he added. "But you do this sport for the love of winning. I know we're focusing on the positives and it will be on next season. It will be what happens in the summer, it will be the young lads coming through and who we can get through the door. It'll be an exciting time and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. It'll hopefully be a really good summer. I'm really looking forward to the start of next season.
"Pre-season is planned, the games are planned, the training is planned so it'll be exciting times. Hopefully you lot [the media] will be excited when you start seeing people come through the door. But, fundamentally, we've got five games left and we want to pick up as many wins as we can and keep putting in performances like we did in the second half [at Hull]."
Cardiff return to action against promotion-chasing Luton Town on Easter Monday. Kick-off is at 3pm.
