Tom Sharpe had some tremendous patience rewarded with his first start of the season at Wrexham in midweek, so says boss Steve Burr.
Young towering central defender Tom looked set to begin the season in the heart of the Harriers defence, though an injury late on in pre-season ruled him out and opened the door for new signing Michael Briscoe, who also put in another strong performance at the Racecourse Ground on Tuesday.
But after biding his time, Sharpe's opportunity came - partnering Briscoe in the absence of experienced campaigner Mark Albrighton who missed out with a hamstring injury.
The young duo coped well with the attack of two of the division's most capable front men, with Burr telling harriers.co.uk today: "Tom has been unfortunate with picking up his injury in pre-season and missing out.
"But he has been very patient and I thought he did very well last night in what was a difficult game to come in to.
"He and Michael Briscoe had good games against Andy Mangan and Andy Morrell who are real handfuls.
"I was really pleased and it is exactly what you want in a squad - players who can come in and do that."
Meanwhile, Burr stated that Callum Gittings' shin injury sustained in the second half on Tuesday, whilst extremely painful, is not thought to be too serious, nor is the knock sustained by two-goal hero Nick Wright who should be okay to feature at Newport this weekend.
