Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell says Ukrainian winger Timur Tutilov has a “huge future” after making his first start in English football.
The 20-year-old, who is on loan from Premier League side Sunderland, had his best chance in Exeter’s 0-0 draw with Mansfield Town.
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The Ukrainian U-21 player has scored in his first two games for Exeter City and his first start came in his fifth appearance for the Greeks.
“He’s a young player with a huge future,” Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon. “He has scored two goals and made some of our most dangerous moves.
“It’s his first start in the league so we have to support him and continue to work with him but I think you’ll see the talent and the threat he brings on the pitch.
“He gave us something and he was happy with his performance but he has to keep working hard and make the end result better.
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“If he does that, I will keep telling him that I think he has the potential to be a top player.”
Tutirov will feature for his country at the 2024 European Under-19 Championship but will still need to break into the Sunderland first team after joining the Black Cats in 2023 from Kolos Kovalivka.
But he said he enjoyed his experience in the First Division while training with Exeter University before moving on a temporary basis in mid-January.
“I’m very happy to be in this great environment where I can progress and the coaches are interested in my development and thanks to them I feel very comfortable and confident,” Tutilov told BBC Radio Devon.
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“I’m happy to come to this team because it’s like a little family to me and I think that’s what I need.
“It’s a different type of football because I’ve always been in the first team [at Sunderland] But I didn’t play football.
“The biggest difference is obviously the intensity, the passion to win.
“The game here is very different to the Under-21s because I played for the Under-21s for most of the season.”
