O’neill: Potters striker Brown is eager to learn and will keep on getting better

MICHAEL O’neill is confident that player of the year Jacob Brown can keep up his rate of progress as he works on different areas of his game.

Brown, who turned 24 last month, was 14-goal top scorer in his second season after joining from Barnsley and has become an increasingly important fixture in O’neill’s starting XI. He has been rewarded with a Scotland call-up too and is two games in June away from qualifying for this winter’s World Cup finals.

He was playing in Conference North with Guiseley eight years ago after being released by Sheffield Wednesday and coaches keep saying how his dedication on the training ground are helping propel him towards his potential.

O’neill said: “Jacob was very raw when we bought him. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend in terms of what you’d pay for a striker but Jacob is a sponge and he’s getting better all the time. His finishing is constantly getting better and he’s worked very hard on all parts of his game training wise.

“We’ve got a player who’s come to the game late and he’s making up for lost time. Hopefully we can continue to see that rate of progression because he’s been a real asset for us and defenders don’t like playing against him.”

No Stoke player had scored more than 12 goals since 2008 and the challenge for Brown will be to maintain his trajectory. O’neill is sure he can do that and is working with the forward on what he can add.

“I do think so,” he said. “I think the things that Jacob has to improve on are obviously continuing to work on the technical side of the game and also maybe a little bit more about his game understanding.

“But his natural attributes are high. His ability to work and run and he’s good in the air. He’s quick and he’s also got the ability to run quick a lot. He doesn’t tire easily. He’s got speed repeatability which you need for a striker.

“A lot of people would give their right arm to have what he has naturally. We just have to continue to work on him technically and make him a better finisher, improve his link up play and game intelligence a little bit as well.”

Stoke under-23s are training today in preparation for Monday night’s Premier League 2 play-off final at Wolves (7pm).

“It was a very good result last weekend against Nottingham Forest,” said O’neill. “They’re a young team, which is good. It’s much better than when we came in and the side was too old. They’ve got a great chance to go up and obviously when you get to the top level you’re playing against better teams to keep up your development.

“The guys down there like Kevin Russell have done a great job.”