Newport County AFC manager Hayden Mullins heaped praise on front man Shaquille Gwengwe after his two goals earned a point in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Tranmere Rovers at Rodney Parade.
Gwengwe opened the scoring with a looping header in the 11th minute before grabbing a 90th-minute equalizer after Tranmere's second-half turnaround.
The striker, who scored 47 goals for Poole Town in the Southern League Premier Division South last season, now has four in his first three games in League Two - despite playing on the wing rather than in his preferred central position.
"Shaq's done really well," said Mullins. "I think he's getting the rewards from his hard work. He's playing in an area of the pitch which is not first position, but he's doing a job for the team.
"He said to me [after the game], jokingly, 'have I earned a place up front yet?' and I said we could change it but the goals might dry up so be careful what you wish for! "He popped up at the end when we needed him and that's the mark of a good striker - to compose yourself and take the goal as well as he did at the end.
"He's in real good form at the moment and he's a player who thrives in those moments," added the Exiles boss. "Shaq's doing really well. He's come up a couple of levels, but you wouldn't think it."
Mullins was pleased with the resilience his side showed after going 2-1 down.
"The one thing I see in this team is real character, real grit and desire to fight for the badge," said the manager.
"At home we've got to make this a tough place to come and get three points and I think we're starting to show that.
"I think our first-half performance was really good. We got the goal and we looked a threat. We were high energy and we really put Tranmere on the back foot for long periods of the game.
"We've got to be able to manage a game better and see it out and a little bit of complacency from us let them back in the game," added the Exiles boss. "But the character to come back was first class and, as a manager, when you see your team fighting like that you can't have too many complaints."
County travel to Salford City on Tuesday and also hope to strengthen the squad before the transfer window closes at 11pm that night.
"We're looking to do a few bits," said Mullins. "We've spoken - myself, the chairman and [head of football operations] Chris Finn - about bits that we need to bring in. We need to be a little bit deeper as a squad, so we're going to try."
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