Nick Powell can '˜light up' any game, says Wigan Athletic boss Cook

Paul Cook hailed the '˜top quality' of Nick Powell after another virtuoso performance in Wigan Athletic's thumping 3-0 victory at pre-season promotion favourites Stoke.
Paul Cook watched his Latics side beat Stoke 3-0Paul Cook watched his Latics side beat Stoke 3-0
Paul Cook watched his Latics side beat Stoke 3-0

Latics deservedly picked up their second Championship victory of the fledgling campaign in the Potteries, thanks to a brace from Will Grigg and another from Gavin Massey.

But the performance of Powell in the free role behind Grigg simply oozed Premier League class.

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“I think when you look at a performance like that...Nick’s just a very special player,” enthused Cook.

“He just has that individual quality that can light a game up.

“Top players can do that, and Nick’s very much in that bracket for me.”

Powell’s display managed to get under the skin of Stoke centre-back Ashley Williams so much that the Wales international - after a running battle with the former Manchester United man - was finally sent off for lashing out at substitute Josh Windass with 13 minutes to go.

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When Powell left the action early, it was to a standing ovation after his substitution just four minutes later, leaving Cook to praise his players’ temperament in staying the right side of the line.

“There’s a lot of competitive players out where, the pitch was magnificent, and it made for a flowing game,” the Latics boss added.

“As a manager, you’ll always back your own players, and trust them to do the I right thing.

“I thought Nick did that and he was outstanding.”

Cook also acknowledged Latics had ridden their luck in the early stages, when Stoke had a goal controversially disallowed for offside, and a decent penalty shout for handball against Cedric Kipre waved away.

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“Everything’s gone our way on the night, hasn’t it?” he added.

“I thought Stoke put us under a lot of pressure from the off, and will really feel they should have scored a goal during that period.

“We always felt we were going to get moments in the game, and I thought the key moments went our way.

“We scored our goals at good times in the game, and it ends up being one of those performances where you say: ‘Yeah, it looks good on paper’.

“At the same time, when you win a game like that, everything has to fall into your way, and it did so.”