‘Outstanding’ - St Mirren boss hails Canaries loanee’s impact and leadership qualities
Norwich City defender Akin Famewo, front, in loan action for St Mirren at Rangers last week Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin has been seriously impressed with the start to Scottish Premiership life made by Norwich City loanee Akin Famewo.
The central defender has started and finished three consecutive matches for the Buddies, playing in front of almost 50,000 at Ibrox during a 1-0 loss to Rangers last week, then holding Aberdeen to a 0-0 draw on Sunday.
Famewo has been paired with fellow 21-year-old Conor McCarthy, a January signing from Irish side Cork City, after Hull had recalled Sean McLoughlin from his loan.
"On the odd occasion it did come forward, I thought Akin and Connor were outstanding, they really were," Goodwin explained.
"I think that's as quiet an afternoon Sam Cosgrove will have had for a long time. So there are a number of positives we can take in terms of the physicality, the way we fought and scrapped for every ball."
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Famewo was signed from Luton a year ago and after shaking off some initial injury issues, captained City's under-23s regularly before heading to Scotland.
He was also training regularly with the first team and signed a new deal in November to extend his terms through until 2023.
Speaking to his club's website, Goodwin continued: "They've been excellent in training, they really have, and they've settled into the group brilliantly. That's probably more to do with the group they've come into because there's so many good boys in there and they've made them feel very welcome, which is great.
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"We knew what we were getting in terms of them as characters. They've both been captains in terms of their recent clubs and I think we've seen that in terms of their leadership qualities, they're organising people around them.
"They're both strong and quick, having that pace in the back-line allows us to play a little bit higher up the par as well, which is good.
"So I could be any more pleased with those two boys because they won't come up against too many strikers in this league as physical as what Cosgrove was, so if they can cope with that, they can cope with anything."
