Exeter City striker Jayden Wareham is “one of the best number nines” in League One, according to manager Gary Caldwell.
Wareham scored his fifth goal in eight games in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Port Vale.
The 22-year-old also hit the post with an outrageous long-range effort as Exeter moved up to 10th place in League One – six points outside the play-off places and seven above the relegation zone.
Wareham, a summer signing from Reading, has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, with 10 coming the past three months.
“I thought he started the game poorly and I had a bit of a go at him. I liked his reaction,” Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon.
“He wasn’t happy and I stoked the fire and after that I thought he was unplayable.
“The way he held the ball up and brought his team-mates into the game, the way he pressed, the way he attacks the box, his reaction to win the ball back and score his goal, which was a brilliant strike.
“He is, in my opinion, one of the best number nines in this league this season and still has huge potential to get even better.”
