As Wrexham made their mark on the Carabao Cup with a thrilling comeback win over Hull City, one Red Dragons loanee also enjoyed a brilliant night in the competition.
Ollie Palmer stole the headlines for Wrexham with two goals for the forgotten man, taking the cup tie to penalties before sticking away his spot-kick and steering the Red Dragons into the next round.
It was a fascinating and very successful outing for Phil Parkinson, who heavily rotated his squad with 11 changes to the starting line-up.
But, elsewhere, one of the players he let go this summer triumphed on his debut and scored the match-winning goal to earn high praise from his new manager.
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Mo Faal scores on Port Vale debut
Mo Faal has struggled to make an impact at Wrexham since joining from West Brom last summer. He made just 17 appearances totaling 720 minutes last season, scoring four goals along the way.
The decision was made to send Faal on loan to Port Vale this season, and that looks to have been the right call already, with the young striker making an instant impact with his new club.
Port Vale defeated Blackpool in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, with Faal scoring the only goal of the game to deliver the win.
The big forward jumped highest after a fine delivery into the box to power a header home past Bailey Peacock-Farrell in the Tangerines’ goal. That came just four minutes after he was brought off the bench by Darren Moore.
He ended up with two shots overall, won two aerial duels, and received a SofaScore rating of 8.1 despite playing just 20 minutes of the game.
Darren Moore is delighted with Mo Faal
That display was enough for Darren Moore to wax lyrical about his new signing. Speaking to the BBC after the game, the Port Vale boss praised Faal’s attributes and how he has added a new dimension to the team.
“He scored off a set-piece, but Mo’s got a wonderful aerial presence as well as being good on the floor. He’s a real awkward customer to deal with,” Moore said. “He’s got size, he’s got mobility, he’s an aerial threat, but his feet are really good as well.”
Moore added: “He’s another addition to our attacking line that really is a different character. We’ve got different options up top, and different options in midfield, too. Mo showed that tonight, I thought he was a nuisance when he came on. It was the right time to throw him in there, it just gave us something different.”
While Faal is very unlikely to have much of a future at the Racecourse Ground, it sounds like he will be a wanted man at Port Vale if he is made available for a permanent transfer.