REACTION: Wigan Athletic boss hails teenage sensation after victory over Accrington Stanley
Shaun Maloney singled out teenager Elijah Igiehon for special praise after watching Wigan Athletic kick-off their pre-season schedule with a 4-1 victory at Accrington.
The 17-year-old winger only signed his first professional contract in May, but has been fast-tracked into the senior set-up while Maloney looks to add to his squad this summer.
And his impact off the bench at the Wham! Stadium sent a real 'I'm Your Man' message to the manager, as he laid on the second and third goals with great work down the left.
"He's doing so well in pre-season," gushed Maloney. "Physically, I really worried whether he'd cope, but he's been very good.
"You can already see with his speed, with his one-v-one, he can be a threat in behind.
"He can definitely tidy up in terms of possession at certain times, but I was very pleased with him."
Igiehon was one of 10 changes at the break with Latics a goal up through Joe Adams.
And although the home side equalised on the hour mark through Jimmy Knowles, Igiehon teed up Thelo Aasgaard to restore the Latics lead with 20 minutes to go.
Igiehon came within inches of making it three, after taking delivery of Chris Sze's clever ball, and seeing his fierce shot half-parried by the home goalkeeper, before being tapped in on the line by Dion Rankine.
And Aasgaard scored his second and Latics' fourth with five minutes left after a superb run and clever finish.
"We tried something slightly different in each half, in terms of tactically," assessed Maloney. "I liked the first half, it was a little bit less relevant in the second half, they went man for man and we had to move a little bit more.
"But the young lads did fine, and also the older lads...and I'm classing Charlie Hughes as an older lad, and he's only 20! So I was pretty pleased, but we're not getting ahead of ourselves at the same time."
Another of the stand-outs was new signing Rankine, who marked his debut with a goal in front of the away fans behind the goal.
"I thought Dion was a big threat, I really liked his performance," added Maloney. "When a team goes man for man, it's going to be tight, but he showed both sides.
"He was a big threat in behind, and he also showed he can play in tight areas."
Sam Tickle's only involvement in the first half was to keep out a long-range strike by Wigan-born Ben Woods, with Latics making 10 changes at the break - only centre-back James Carragher staying on.
Accrington equalised on the hour mark when Knowles fired home past Andy Lonergan, making his debut in the Latics goal.
But Latics hammered home their superiority in the final quarter, with Aasgaard firing home from close range 20 minutes from time after seeing his initial header parried out.
Goal number three came three minutes later after Sze turned superbly and released Igiehon, whose shot was half-stopped by the home goalkeeper, before Rankine tapped home.
And Aasgaard grabbed his second and Latics' fourth with five minutes left by gliding into the area and then lifting the ball over the advancing custodian.