Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has praised Liverpool loanee Jarell Quansah despite being on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline on his senior debut.
The Gas endured a miserable afternoon at Morecambe on Saturday as Derek Adams' side ran riot, inflicting one of the worst scorelines during former Manchester City and Newcastle United midfielder Barton's tenure at the Memorial Ground.
After a handful of appearances for Liverpool in the Football League Trophy, Quansah was making his bow as a professional footballer, after signing for Rovers on loan until the end of the season. And Barton was impressed.
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"We learned two things today, we need to get some bodies in some quality," the 40-year-old said speaking to Bristol Rovers' official website. "I thought young Jarell Quansah was superb, didn't deserve to be on the losing side.
"The team conceded five and you'll always ask questions around the defence but I thought for a 19-year-old making his debut, I thought he was superb."
Barton had expressed his delight that the Reds were willing to loan out the young centre-back, who captained the club's Under-18s to the FA Youth Cup final in 2021 and has England youth honours.
"He’s got really good qualities and when you’ve been training with Liverpool’s first team, being in and around that picture, the next step in your progression is to get out and have regular men’s football," Barton said speaking ahead of Saturday's encounter.
"Thankfully, Liverpool have trusted us with this stage of his development and we’re absolutely delighted to have him. He’s just a really good passer of the football.
"Obviously, he’s been brought in to be a defender, but we want to control the ball and we want to play and it’s important that our defenders are capable of breaking lines and handling the ball."
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