'Outstanding talent' - Grant McCann delighted with start made by Doncaster Rovers new boy
Rovers have two friendlies on the cards on Saturday
Grant McCann has been waxing lyrical over new Doncaster Rovers signing Leon Ayinde.
The winger, 21, arrived at Rovers from Premier League-bound Ipswich Town and was the first signing of the summer. He impressed last season on loan at National League sides Rochdale and then Boreham Wood - featuring in the play-off final for the latter against the former.
He caught the eye in Rovers' recent tour of Ireland, scoring in one of the three warm-up games. Another chance to impress will come later today when Rovers split their squad in two with one heading to Harrogate (12pm) and another trekking to Gainsborough (4pm).
When asked by the Free Press about Ayinde, McCann was gushing with praise. "I think any of the fans that came out to Ireland would have seen what he's about," he said.
"He's really strong, powerful, quick, direct. He's got an eye for goal. He played a lot off of the right for Boreham Wood, because of their superstar (Abdul) Abdulmalik! But Leon sort of went under the radar a little bit, because everyone was watching him (Abdulmalik). But we watched him quite a bit last year. I actually went down again to watch him in the National League play-off final and even then I thought 'he's on the wrong side!'
"The games he's played for us have been on the left and he's been excellent. I know we've only played games against clubs in Ireland, but even in training, the players are really, really impressed by him and the coaches are impressed by him. His attitude is outstanding. His intensity, his high-speed running, his acceleration (accel) and deceleration (decel) levels are through the roof. I mean, through the roof.
"So, he's got all the tools out of possession. Now we need to just clean them up a little bit at the top end of the pitch, and we've got an absolutely outstanding talent at our hands."
Today's double-header will see a clutch of players not involved. Frankie Okoronkwo continues to recover from injury whilst Glenn Middleton will not be featuring in any warm-up games as he looks to seal a departure from the club. Star winger Luke Molyneux is also highly unlikely to feature after rejecting the offer of a new deal. He is also expected to depart, with reports emerging late on Friday that League Two Salford have had a bid accepted.