Loan goalkeeper Matija Sarkic praised for his attitude at Shrewsbury Town

Sarkic, 23, has kept seven clean sheets in 14 appearances since Steve Cotterill took over, having finally overcome injury issues that dogged his first few months at Town.

The highly-rated Wolves keeper, who moved to Molineux from Villa Park in the summer, has impressed with his shot-stopping and dominance airily.

But stand-in boss Wilbraham revealed it is the 6ft 5in shot-stopper’s attitude in training with goalkeeper coach Brian Jensen that impressed most.

“He’s got a great attitude, Mati, he’s always wanting to do extra with the goalkeeping coach Brian Jensen,” Wilbraham said. “He’s always wanting to stay out, watch videos and recap games.

“He’s got a great professional attitude and a great professional way about him, he’s always in the gym doing his stuff.

“You can just see he’s a really professional lad and that is showing in games.”

Sarkic was especially impressive as Town stood firm in their most recent fixture, the 2-1 home victory over Sunderland last week.

Wilbraham added: “He kept us in the Sunderland games, at times, especially with little bits at the end, the way he pushed the free-kick away to the side and not back into the path closing in.

“And everything else, his handling coming out claiming balls and his kicking was really good in the last game.

“He was hitting the right areas, which gives us a chance as a team, with Curtis (Main) putting pressure on their defenders, I think he (Sarkic) does that really well.”

Sarkic, who signed a three-year deal at Wolves, suffered a hamstring injury in September which kept him out until the end of November.

Former boss Sam Ricketts, who brought him to the club, instead turned to Harry Burgoyne and emergency loanee Deyan Iliev.

Cotterill said in the early days of his tenure that the goalkeeper’s distribution would be essential to Shrewsbury’s plan. Sarkic has proved a dominant and vocal figure between the sticks for his loan side.