Stuart Kettlewell reckons the sky’s the limit for Tawanda Maswanhise after the Motherwell magician’s latest man of the match display.
The Zimbabwe international turned on the class with a goal and an assist to help dump Aberdeen and lift the Steelmen into fifth spot in the Premiership on Sunday. Maswanhise’s control and pass to link play at Ewan Wilson’s opener was impressive. But it wasn’t a patch on the genius two-touch finish he produced to bring down Liam Gordon’s ball over the top and slide home the clinching second goal.
It took the winger onto five goals for the season after being handed a chance in Lanarkshire by Kettlewell in the summer following his release from Leicester City. And the Fir Park boss is sure bigger and better things lie in wait if the 22-year-old can add consistency to his game.
He said: “He had a massive, massive bearing on the game for us yet again. He needs to continue that because the sky starts to become the limit, in my opinion, if he can rack up the numbers along with the performances.
“He’s a breath of fresh air. We didn’t feel that he turned up against Hearts in the last game. There’s always a frustration when you know that he’s got so much quality. I’m not pinning that on solely him. It’s just that when you’re as good at handling the ball and that creative brain that he’s got and the quality he’s got, we want it every single week.
“But remembering that he’s in his infancy, his senior career, he’s not played that many senior games, but he’s having a good impact. He gives you a threat playing between players and receiving the ball, but I also think he gives you that threat with his pace. A lot of people just lean to the fact that he’s got that pace, but very, very clever when he’s changing direction and how he handles the ball.”
Kettlewell also hailed Wilson after the Well academy product reached the latest milestone of a stunning breakthrough year with his first professional goal.
The 20-year-old slammed home the opener to pave the way for the 2-0 win over Aberdeen.
And Kettlewell said: “I’m delighted for him. He’s reached every kind of challenge that I’ve set him so far, be it a couple of times. he’s played in midfield, you know, playing on the left-hand side, playing against good players on a weekly basis.
“And all those learning points, all those learning curves that come for a young player that might not have thought that he was going to find himself in this position, but he’s embraced it.
“I feel that he carries a real threat with his quality on his left foot. We speak to him a lot about trying to get his shot volume up because he has such control and such good technique that way.
“So, delighted that he finds himself in that position and has the composure to execute it. And it’s obviously a big goal in the game at that stage to get the first one.”