JOHN Coleman was full of praise for debutant Gerardo Bruna after the former Real Madrid youngster impressed in Accrington Stanley’s 1-0 win over Oxford United.

Stanley ended a run of five successive defeats thanks to Terry Gornell’s injury time goal moving them up to 15th in the League Two table.

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Coleman handed a debut to ex-Real Madrid, Liverpool and Blackpool midfielder Bruna in the game.

It was the Argentinian’s first start in the top four divisions of English football and the 24-year-old hit the woodwork in a bright display.

“He would have been an instant hero if that went in, the shot was a wonderful strike and he does that in training every day, that’s why we gave him his chance,” Coleman said.

“We expected him to tire towards the end but he showed even in brief glimpses, some of his passing was wonderful.

“Hopefully he’ll get stronger as the season goes on and it’s another string to our bow.”

Coleman was relieved to end the Reds’ losing run and the felt his side’s performance merited the victory, which came in what the manager described as ‘Peter Murphy time’ – in recognition of the former Stanley player who had a habit of scoring in injury time.

This time Gornell was the scorer, hooking the ball over his shoulder into the net for his first goal since returning to the club.

“The lads were under immense pressure going into it on the back of five defeats, but I’ve got to take my hat off to how hard we worked, the players put their bodies on the line and they worked right until the end,” the manager said. “Some of the football we played was very good.

“It’s about time we scored in Peter Murphy time the last time an overhead kick was scored like that I think John Doolan did it in the UniBond First Division.

“Terry didn’t think he had it in him but I thought he was superb, his hold up play and the way he led the line was fantastic.”