Wigan Athletic promised a 'free-er' Brad Burrowes after Aston Villa starlet opens his account

Brad Burrowes' first senior goal at the weekend will allow him to be 'an even more devastating player than he has been' for Wigan Athletic.

So says Gary Caldwell, who believes the 18-year-old's winning goal in the 3-2 Halloween 'thriller' against Bromley will have served to 'lift a bit of weight' off the Aston Villa loanee.

"Brad's been desperate to score his first goal," said the Latics boss. "And ever since he's come in he's shown a desire to work hard and to learn.

"His quality and his potential is huge, and he showed that again against Bromley.

"Some of the runs he did - he was dynamic and direct - was amazing, and scoring the goal will maybe lift a bit of weight off him.

"A 'free-er' Brad Burrowes will hopefully be an even more devastating player than he has been for us."

So who gets the credit for plucking the youngster from the Villa Academy?

"When I got questioned after signing Dan Burn, and I got the sack, he was my signing," smiled Caldwell.

"Then we all put our name to him pretty quickly when he got back to the Premier League and playing for England!

"But Brad is a talent that Joe (Riley) and the recruitment team brought to us, and we were al impressed with what we saw.

"We looked at the speed of him, he can come inside or go outside, and he will develop into a player who can play all over the frontline when he gets bigger.

"When he picks up the ball and runs at people, he's so direct and so aggressive, and he's a huge threat to the opposition."

Burrowes was one of a number of talented young players who helped Latics to a precious three points against Bromley, with Charlie Gray, Reggie Walsh and K'Marni Miller also yet to reach the age of 21.

"I'm guessing we have one of the youngest starting line-ups at the moment," added Caldwell.

"Overall, we're the third youngest squad in the division...a really young group with so much quality and potential - but also so much to learn at this level, like the ugly side of the game.

"They haven't seen that part of the game so far in their careers and, it might be frustrating at times, we have to help them and support them in their development and their understanding.

"We have to be in control of the game and the ball to play the kind of football we want to play.

"Because if we allow it to get chaotic against a team like Bromley, we'll probably lose the game.

"We had to see it out at the weekend because, when you don't kill it off, that's what can happen.

"So there's lessons to learn, but it showed again a great mentality in a group that hasn't won many games and is still coming together."