David Artell says that young striker Lewis Reilly has provided the perfect response after being handed his full debut for the club against Port Vale on Tuesday evening.

Artell used our final group game in the Checkatrade Trophy to blood Reilly in from the start and he grabbed his chance with both hands by scoring both our goals in our 4-2 defeat.

Reilly was certainly the plus point from a disappointing derby defeat and Artell says that the Liverpool-born forward is heading in the right direction. He is looking for the teenager to continue to put pressure on the more senior strikers currently ahead of him in the pecking order.

Artell told the club’s official website: “Lewis is the best finisher at the club. He had three chances on Tuesday night. He scored two and fluffed a chance of a hat-trick. He got in there to score them.

“He has a talent for being in the right place at the right time and he can also score those ones from outside the box as well. He has that in his locker.

“Lewis did himself no harm. I asked him before the game, how many are you going to score and he said one or two. I said to him don’t say two if you don’t believe it. I just wish he had said three!

The boss added: “He did his job and now he has to keep going. He has to keep scoring goals because if he does then he will get his opportunities here. Whilst some of them went the other way against Port Vale and showed that they were not ready to take their chance, Lewis put himself firmly in the picture. “