John Doolan waxed lyrical about Shaun Whalley after the 38-year-old scored one and made two in Accrington’s 3-1 win over Cheltenham.
Whalley recently made 200 appearances for Stanley and the winger curled home the opener in the eighth minutes.
His free-kick then set up Donald Love, who blasted home in the second minute of first-half added time to double their advantage.
The Reds added a third after 59 minutes when a Whalley corner was headed home by defender Devon Matthews.
Cheltenham got what proved a consolation in the 73th minute when Jordan Thomas fired home from the edge of the box.
Doolan, whose side are unbeaten in three and moved into the top half of the table, said: “Shaun sets the standards on and off the pitch.
“First of all, he is a quality human being. On the pitch, you can see his qualities, it was a great finish.
“He drives everyone on, he is infectious and he is just on it all the time.
“He puts you on the front foot. It was two assists and a wonderful goal from him. He deserves all the accolades.
“Then the second goal was important. The second and third goals were set-pieces we had worked on and it’s always nice when they come off.
“I am just delighted, it was about getting the three points and keeping the momentum.
“The players are frustrated they haven‘t kept a clean sheet, but that’s just not picking.”
Steve Cotterill was livid as he felt this was the worst performance since he came to Cheltenham in September.
Cotterill said: “I am really disappointed, we train all week to do what we did in the last 15-20 minutes of the game and by then the game is over. I feel let down.
“Endeavour would be a good start and not enough players have done that.
“I am not sure how I can defend them. We train hard, we do all the things all week and we don’t do it until 70 minutes are on the clock.
“It is the most disappointing I have been since I have been here.
“When you go into a game, the first thing you have got to show is fight and we didn’t show any fight. If you don’t show any fight, you might as well pack in.
“The changes in the second half made a difference. I wouldn’t be disappointed with three or four players, but that doesn’t get you a result.
“We will have bumps in the road. January has been what I would say is a real tough kick in the teeth month for the amount of hard work which has gone into it.”
