How Middlesbrough loanee Josh Coburn fared on his full Bristol Rovers debut - and what bodes well

Josh Coburn won the match for Bristol Rovers against Cambridge - he has the potential to do that on the regular.
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As first starts go, on-loan Middlesbrough striker Josh Coburn can take great pride from his display for Bristol Rovers.

After a 45-minute cameo against Crystal Palace, he was promoted to the starting eleven and took the opportunity with both hands to score the goal that ended a long winless streak in League One.

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Joey Barton opted to go for a two man strike partnership with Ryan Loft alongside Coburn, who was making his first league start for Bristol Rovers after joining on a season-long loan from Middlesbrough on deadline day.

Both are similar in stature, standing at around six foot two inches which on initial inspection would be too much like-for-like, but Coburn put that to bed. Loft's role was working as a target man, battling for the balls in the air and putting his body about and whilst he didn't register a goal, he played an effective role alongside Aaron Collins and Coburn.

Coburn on the other hand was the slightly neater of the players, confident in possession and keen to do the things that gets fans off of their seats.

The Rovers loyal were made to wait to see their new signing in action as the striker was undergoing rehabilitation for a knee injury, however it was worth the wait.

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It was a dream start for the Gas who were without a league win in eight yet they took the lead when a Luca Hoole header bounced awkwardly off Greg Taylor and into the back of the net after 17 minutes. The 20-year-old would’ve been looking at his second ever career goal however it was credited as Taylor’s.

Rovers were unlucky to not be awarded a penalty minutes later when a Lewis Gordon cross clearly struck the outstretched hand of Taylor. It was however the away side who had the chance from 12 yards when Sam Smith was brought down by James Belshaw with ten minutes left of the half. Joe Ironside calmy sent the keeper the wrong way, evening the score at the break.

Ten minutes into the second half the Gas were ahead again when new man Coburn stuck the ball past Dimitar Mitov from a tight angle, putting his new side on course for their first league win since August.

Inside the first three minutes, Coburn picked up the ball on the left hand side, flicking the ball past Jubril Okedina and Lloyd Jones and narrowly firing past the post, in what would’ve been a dream start for the loanee. Other than his early foray into the Cambridge box, it seemed to be Coburn’s strike partner Loft who was the more proactive throughout the first half.

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Barely having touched the ball for the majority of the game, it only took Coburn ten minutes into the second half to put his new side ahead again and get off the mark for the season. Some great work from Aaron Collins (shock) down the left wing and a tantalising ball driven across the box, waiting to be tapped in.

The debutant obliged and poked home the winner for his new club, wheeling away in celebration in front of the loudest section of fans. With just under 25 minutes to go, Coburn was brought off to a standing ovation from over 8,500 home supporters in what was a respectable first full showing.

Summer signing John Marquis was absent through injury which is what afforded Coburn the opportunity, the positive is that this can give him the time to play games from the start.

Instead of waiting for opportunities off of the bench he can do the work to tire down the opponent and impact games like he did today, scoring with perhaps just his second chance.

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Coburn, who revealed earlier in the week in his first interview that he was sold the dream by Joey Barton on a Zoom call, earned praise for his performance by the manager.

Keen no to set high expectations from the off, room of improvement was one of the first lines, but the glimpses that he showed was clear evidence that the best is yet to come.

“I think he’s got lots of improvement but you can also see the raw materials he has, you can see why he’s factored for Middlesbrough in the Championship.

“You can see why he’s caused problems. You can also see why we were so keen to recruit him when we knew he was available.”

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