Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens praised veteran Darren Pratley after he returned to form in the 2-0 win at Salford.
The 37-year-old was hooked at half-time against Carlisle last weekend but responded with a key role in a victory that extended Orient’s unbeaten run to 11 games and left them 10 points clear at the top of League Two.
Pratley was involved in Orient’s second goal, knocking the ball in behind for opening goalscorer Ruel Sotiriou to tee up George Moncur, and earned himself praise from his manager.
Former Salford boss Wellens said: “I thought Prats was outstanding. It’s never nice to bring your captain off and a good lad like Prats but I thought we improved for bringing Prats off on Saturday.
“But what a response today. He was everywhere, winning second balls, dominating midfield so I’m really pleased for him.
“When you’re a manager and you come into a club and you have players at that age, you’re always a little bit wary, quite cynical that they can look after themselves.
“He’s the most humble guy, played in the Premier League, Championship a lot of times. He’s a humble professional and he’s a great example for not only young players but all of our players.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him. If you put me in the trenches with him or anyone in our team I’d choose him first.
“He’s still ripped so he looks after himself. He’s a dedicated lad, he eats the right things, he recovers right and he’s just a good professional.”
Salford asked questions of the O’s but the away side stood firm and defended well throughout.
Ethan Galbraith had two shots charged down in the first half and goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux denied Luke Bolton and Stevie Mallan.
Wellens added: “We’ve got the best goalkeeper in the league by far. I think Omar Beckles and Dan Happe earlier in the season were the best two centre-backs.
“You can talk about organisation and team shape and do all the practices you want but if you haven’t got the players who are good enough to do it then you’re fighting a losing battle.”
Salford’s first defeat in four games saw them drop out of the play-off places.
Head coach Neil Wood said: “I thought the keeper made an outstanding save and I thought they got a large slice of luck for the ball not to end up in the back of the net.
“They defend the box well but they couldn’t stop us getting in behind. We got in behind a few times with the ball flying across the goal.
“We broke through it a lot but they were more clinical than us. On another day we could have put two or three chances away.
“We have to keep working and getting better and there’s a process that goes into it – the training going into it, the possession, the runs, the pass. That is constant and it takes work.
“We came into the game as the highest goalscoring team in the league so it is working. There’s going to be days like today where we create chances and get in behind them and just can’t finish it off. That will happen, and it’s something that we can evaluate and tweak to get better.”
