'He's a hell of a player': Terry McPhillips on Blackpool midfielder Jordan Thompson

The 21-year-old, who had previously missed Pool's last two games after going away with Northern Ireland, bagged a goal and an assist in Saturday's 3-0 win against Burton Albion.

Thompson wasn’t the only man to get a goal and an assist on Saturday, with teammate Joe Dodoo also producing a similar feat.

McPhillips said: “To be fair to Joe, he’s missed a lot of games because we didn’t feel he was doing well enough.

“But he’s got his chance again, like they all will, and he’s taken that with both hands. I thought second half he was phenomenal.

“It wasn’t just his run and ball in, if you watch the goal back Jordan had to make immense ground up and he knew the ball was going to come across.

“He gambled, he sprinted and that’s the quickest I’ve ever seen him run to be fair, and he’s bundled it into the net.

“Your two strikers and your number 10 are scoring, you win 3-0 at home against one of the better teams, a Championship team last year, it’s a fantastic result for us.”

Thompson’s goal was his third of the season and McPhillips wants to see his whole squad finding the back of the net.

“We spoke about it earlier in the season when we were having problems scoring goals. We were alright at the back but getting too many 0-0s,” the Pool boss added.

“But you look at ourselves now and you think ‘we should have got three points there’ and ‘we should maybe be four or six points better off than we are now had we turned those draws into wins’.

“So we’ve demanded that and we’ve been practicing'He; scoring goals and finishing, and it’s paid dividends.

“Jordan, Joe, Armand (Gnaduillet), Spearo (Jay Spearing), the centre halves have been immense all season, Ollie Turton will play wherever you want him to. The subs are coming on and making a difference, so I’m really pleased.

“The place we’re in now is a good place. You win five on the spin it’s a good place to be in and we’ve now got two important games coming up.”

It could have been a different story for Thompson on Saturday, who was shown a yellow card at the end of the first half for a shove on Stephen Quinn, who had just fouled him.

When asked if the 21-year-old was fortunate to stay on the pitch, McPhillips replied: “I get that, he’s just reacted hasn’t he? Because the lad has clobbered him. That was a yellow card.

“I’ve said, you’ve just got to take it because if you’re a good player you’re going to get kicked. That’s it.

“They were probably going to do it in the second half but it wouldn’t be the same player, someone else will nail you. You can’t react like that.

“But he’s a great lad and his discipline in the second half was superb.

“He’s a hell of a player. I thought he started slowly but I think we’ve got some players who are getting better.”