Pearce Heaps Praise On Jordan.

I got all excited about the headline at the official site saying 'Jordans Progress', then I realised it was about 23 year old Stephen Jordan!

Stuart Pearce has heeped praise on the young player who has made five appearances this season. “I think he's come on in leaps and bounds...He's another that's come through the Academy system, played a lot of reserve team football and had to be patient to wait for his first team chance. People probably do not realise that he has played 20-odd games last year, which is quite an amount.”

Pearce continues:

'To be fair to Steve, it's probably only Ben Thatcher's form that's kept him out. I've got quite a healthy situation with two left backs competing for the same place, but Ben's playing particularly well and was worthy of his place. But Stephen's been patient, then there's an injury so he comes in and plays fairly well and gives me a great deal to think about. It's healthy for the football club to have two players in each position fighting for places, and Steve also gives me the option of playing him at left centre-half as well'

Pearce also sees Jordan’s versatility as a great asset

“I played left back, but all through my school days I was a centre half, it was just a case of not being big enough and you get shuttled out to the left in man's football. Stephen started as a centre half, then ended up going to left back, but he will have the mentality that he can play either.”

“Over the last six to eight months, the fact that we have some good Academy players has been a great boost to this football club. They have really put some pressure on the senior players, and that's a good thing.”

Quotes from the official site.