CHARLTON loan sensation Nathan Eccleston marked his Valley debut with a vital goal to seal victory over Plymouth in Chris Powell’s first game as manager.

The Liverpool teenager, contracted to ply his trade in SE7 for the remainder of the season, came off the bench to put the result beyond doubt in the 90th minute.

Victory finally left home fans happy for the first time in months and Eccleston hopes he can soon earn a place in Powell’s starting XI.

He said: “I’ve been looking to get out on loan for a while and Charlton have shown an interest before the loan came about, as well as a few other teams.

“I was speaking to Jonjo Shelvey and he was a big influence on me coming to Charlton.

“He filled me with great words about the club and the supporters, so it was an easy decision.

“Even before there was mention of me going out on loan, Jonjo used to speak about Charlton and he was full of praise for the club. He played a big part in me coming here.

“I’ve come to play games. Obviously I want to be starting these games but you can’t expect to just walk into any team.

“You’ve got to show hard work and determination and in the two appearances I’ve made so far off the bench, I think I’ve done well, so hopefully if I work hard in training this week I’ll get a start next week.”

Eccleston agreed to join the club without even knowing who his boss would be because Keith Peacock was in temporary charge of the Reds when the loan deal was finalised.

But the young striker feels Powell has done a great job in making an early impression on his new squad and looks forward to working under him this season.

He explained: “It was a great occasion with the new manager coming in.

“What he’s done here so far for the club has made him a legend.

“I met Chris for the first time on Saturday at Sheffield Wednesday.

“He came into the dressing room and introduced himself to all of us as he was taking over on Monday and that was our first training session with him.

“I’d never spoken to him directly but obviously I knew about him as a player before.

“Training was good. He came in with how he wanted football to be played, it was positive and direct attacking football, which is what the fans want to see.”

Eccleston added: “It’s exciting not just for me but for the players who were here before under numerous managers before.

“It’s always good to come to a team who want to play the right way, which is good for everybody.”

Powell was equally impressed by Eccleston’s contribution afterwards.

The manager said: “I think he made lot of people sit up and take notice.

“He scored a tenacious goal, a fantastic finish with his left foot and let’s hope there’s more of that to come.

“Nathan came in after the Spurs game and naturally was a sub because the first team did quite well at Spurs, even though they lost.

“He came on last week and impressed me up at Sheffield Wednesday.

“Obviously he’s come from a club who are looking for him to develop and become a better player and you can see he’s got some Premier League touches in him.

“But he’s a young player and you can’t expect too much just because he’s come from Liverpool.

“I said to him today when he was coming on to go and make a statement to me, to the players and to the supporters and to prove he deserved to be here in this short spell.”

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