Explosive star must be handled with care

That is just how you want your star striker to be described by the boss and that is what Fleetwood head coach Uwe Rosler has dubbed new striker Conor McAleny after his electric start to life at Highbury.

McAleny became the first-ever Fleetwood player to score twice on his Football League debut after his brace sank promotion favourites Rotherham last weekend.

Now a trip to Northampton is on the horizon for Rosler’s league leaders.

It was the setting for Rosler’s first-ever game in charge of the club last August and the German says he now has something he did not have at his disposal back then – McAleny.

But McAleny has only 57 League games under his belt and Rosler warned that the 24-year-old summer signing has not arrived at Town from Everton to replace David Ball as the finished article.

McAleny’s career has been hampered by injuries so far as Rosler knows only too well, having been in charge at Brentford in 2013 when the Goodison starlet broke his leg on loan.

But after a scorching loan stint – 10 goals in 14 games – with Town’s League One rivals Oxford at the end of last season and a perfect start to his Town career, the forward has whetted the appetitite of the Cod Army.

And Rosler says the challenge is now to ensure he gets something he has never achieved under his belt – a season of 30-plus games.

He said: “Conor gives us something we probably did not have as much last year. I think he is very explosive.

“He is technically very good in tight areas, he is a goalscorer, he does not need many chances, he gives you goals. A little bit like David Ball, (he scores) goals out of nothing but he had not played a lot of football for a 24-year-old for of a lot of reasons.

“We never get the finished article here, so that is our challenge and his challenge to make him available for as many games as we can.

“The key for us will be to keep him on the pitch and I’m sure he will contribute in a very impressive way.”