Kevin Blackwell believes that the low key approach to introducing Jamie Ward to the first-team is paying dividends.

The 22 year old signed from Chesterfield made another late substitute appearance at QPR and has been able to settle in and prove himself without yet making a full start when the spotlight is fully on him:

"We said from the start that Jamie is a development player and have deliberately not subjected him to the pressure of chucking him in for a start in a sink or swim situation.

"He has been used gradually off the bench, has looked comfortable and I now have every confidence in starting him if we need to."

The United boss insists that timing is crucial and that looking after a player's interests is beneficial in the long term:

"You can throw a young lad in too early and he ends up facing a losing battle. Everything might be against him and he ends up losing confidence because he never gets to grips with the new level in his own time.

"The fans have seen what he can do - he has been bright and threatening - and bringing him on slowly in short spells has given him confidence as a result.

"There was a danger that if he was put straight into the side that he would have been expected to replace James Beattie, and that would have been unfair."