OLD MASTER Andy Booth is predicting a bright future for young gun Martin Kelly.
Town’s on-loan Liverpool defender clinched Saturday’s 3-2 win at Walsall with his first career goal.
The right-back, who turns 19 a week today, curled home a 62nd-minute left-foot strike after Booth’s double had hauled Town back into the game from 2-0 down.
“Martin produced a great finish and it was lovely to see him chalk up the first goal of his career,” said Booth, who has scored 182 at club level, 148 of them for Town.
“If he doesn’t become an established Premier League player, I’d be very surprised.”
It was Kelly’s fifth appearance for Town, to go with one at Liverpool, and Galpharm boss Lee Clark says he has already enquired about taking him on loan for the whole of next season.
“It would be great to get him back, because he’s definitely one to watch,” added Booth.
Former Orient frontman Jabo Ibehre bagged both Walsall’s goals, in the 14th and 28th minutes, and Booth admitted: “We started poorly, and to be fair, we could have been four down by the time we pulled one back.”
The strike star’s first, in the 43rd minute, was a shot which squirmed through the grasp of goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin, while the second, two minutes later, was a textbook header.
“We had a bit of luck with the first, although it definitely crossed the line, while Jim Goodwin delivered a great ball in for my second,” said Booth.
“We knew we could play a lot better in the second half, and that if we could step things up by 10%, we’d have a great chance of winning the game.
“We changed our system (from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2) to match them up and it worked well, and in the end, we deserved the win.”
Booth hailed the impact of Michael Flynn, who came on as a 28th-minute replacement for Michael Collins, who was suffering discomfort from a finger injury suffered during Town’s 1-0 Easter Monday win over Carlisle.
