Tommy McDermott receives 'raw ability' praise as Michael Appleton gives Shrewsbury loanee 'higher level' backing
Michael Appleton has backed loanee Tommy McDermott to play at a higher level - and has praised the Burnley's youngsters character since arriving at the Croud Meadow.
The 20-year-old midfielder came through the ranks at Port Vale - before being picked up by Burnley following a handful of non-league loan spells.
Back in the summer he made the switch to Shrewsbury Town, his first loan move in the EFL.
McDermott was sent off on his home debut against Colchester - but since then has gone on to make 12 starts and score three goals for Appleton's side, the latest coming in the EFL Trophy defeat to Northampton Town.
He has become a key part of Appleton's side as they look to drag themselves away from the League Two drop zone - starting with a big clash against Newport County on Saturday.
And Appleton has explained that he knew what type of character he was getting with McDermott - and has backed the youngster to go on and play at a higher level.
He said: "It’s one of them where obviously character plays a big part in that.
"Most players who go out on loan from big clubs to League One or League Two clubs, they tend to obviously have the ability or they wouldn't get the loan in the first place.
"I knew Tommy from afar in the sense that I knew the people who look after him.
"We obviously know quite a few people at Burnley, people who've worked for Shrewsbury before, so we kind of knew what type of character we were getting.
"We kind of knew the character. There's certain parts of his game that we pull him on all the time that he needs to be better at and needs to improve on if he wants to go and play higher, and he will do because he's got them raw abilities."
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