“It was a good outing for him”: Youngster makes positive impression on Morecambe boss

The 21-year-old was recalled from a loan spell at Workington last month, having been sent there until the end of the season by Bentley’s predecessor, Ashvir Singh Johal, in January.

That was a second loan spell away from the club for Ogwuru, who had previously featured for Ashton United after his fairytale start with the Shrimps.

Twenty-four hours after his signing was confirmed last August, he scored the injury-time winner as Morecambe’s new-look side started their delayed season with victory against Altrincham.

That was the first of three appearances he made in a week before falling out of favour under Johal.

With Jack Nolan and Chris Popov in sparkling form for the Shrimps, Ogwuru has featured twice off the bench after being an unused substitute in the games against Gateshead and York City.

A late appearance in the win at Wealdstone on March 3 was followed by a full second-half outing – and a goal – in Morecambe’s victory at Sutton United last Saturday.

Bentley said: “It was a good outing for him and a good time to come on when you’re 4-0 up and playing against 10 men.

“The referee had sent one of their players off, while Yann (Songo’o) was on a booking and made a foul just before half-time, so rather than give the referee a chance to even things up, we thought it was best to take Yann off.

“Jack had already got his hat-trick so we dropped him back into midfield, put Dan at the top end and he got his goal.

“We’d brought him back to see what he can offer and he showed some nice touches.

“I’m told he’s a box player who can finish, but he’s still only a young lad who’s learning his trade.

“We’d wanted to get him on in previous games, but he’s been limited by sendings off and the state of the game.

“He’s been stripped, ready to come on, and we’ve had to turn around and tell him to sit down because we needed to make another change instead.”

Ogwuru’s return offers Bentley an alternative in case either Nolan or Popov are not at his disposal.

At the same time, the Morecambe boss is more than happy to see the goals shared around – with the backline now challenged to do their bit in the opposition penalty area.

He added: “I think, before, the team has been based around playing ‘total football’ but now we offer a threat in different ways.

“We don’t want to rely on one or two players to get the goals because, if they go down injured or have an off-day, you can struggle to score.

“You look at the Sutton game, Paul Lewis has just got his first goal in a long time, Dan has got his goal, while Jack and Chris Popov have been scoring numerous goals.

“We offer a threat from set plays now, so we just need the defenders to chip in as well.”