David Artell was pleased with the impact his substitute Charlie Kirk made in last night’s FA Cup replay against Blackburn Rovers. The Academy graduate replaced Callum Ainley before half-time after the midfielder suffered a nasty cut above his eye.
Kirk was a threat down the left hand side and produced the cross of the game to find Chris Dagnall, with the striker unfortunate to see his diving header hit the Blackburn post.
Kirk also combined late on with fellow substitute Jordan Bowery that resulted in Bowery whipping a shot just wide of the far post.
Following our narrow 1-0 defeat to the League One side, Artell said of Kirk: “He is a talented boy and he has had to wait a long time for a chance. He did get a go at Port Vale and he let himself down a bit on the night there but he has made a better impact this evening.
“He is a good player and has some skill. As long as he tries to do the right things then I will stand by him. He whipped in a terrific cross for Dagnall and was then involved in the build up to Jordan’s chance. That is what Charlie would be in the team for, creating chances like that for the forwards.”