Boro boss pleased with impact of attacking player following return from injury

Graham Westley says Filipe Morais is a ‘real threat’ to opposing teams after seeing the frontman make his first start for the club since February 9, writes Damion Roberts.

The Portuguese winger has impressed when playing for the club this season, but his first campaign has been disrupted by a series of niggling injuries.

The attacking player returned from an ankle injury recently as a substitute at Crawley Town, having missed most of March.

He looked sharp as a second-half substitute against Hartlepool United on Easter Monday and again posed a threat at Portsmouth in a more advanced position.

Speaking after the Pompey game, and about his player’s return, Westley said: “Filipe has been out for perhaps six weeks and to come in and to put in a 85 minutes like he did today was real credit to him.

“He’s a terrific player, a real threat, a real handful and as he gets his fitness I can only see him doing really good things at this level.”

Westley watched his side build on their draw at Crawley Town and their win over Hartlepool with a well-earned point at Fratton Park, with the Stevenage boss saying afterwards that he believed his side had the better of the chances.

“It’s a second clean sheet in a week and it was a hard-earned clean sheet,” Westley said.

“I thought the players put one foot in front of the other.

“They showed good organisation and good resilience, but we had the more memorable chances in the game, none more so than the late one [Marcus Haber heading on to the crossbar].

“We could easily have scored two or three goals from pretty clear-cut chances and we didn’t give too many away.

“Though on the whole I thought a draw was a fair result in the game, for an away club I thought we came here and we showed some sense of purpose and a lot of good quality in the game.

“The understandings that the players are getting of what’s wanted seven days on [from taking charge] are bound to be better than they were two days on.

“I’ve been really pleased with their response and their reaction, and particularly pleased with the attitude they have shown.

“They are really applying themselves and there are some very good players at the club.”