Tranmere Rovers manager Micky Mellon has heaped praise on the club's on-loan Sunderland midfielder Josh Hawkes.

The 22-year-old joined Tranmere on a season-long loan from the Black Cats back in the summer transfer window, as he looks to gain some useful experience in the Football League.

Hawkes has since gone on to make seven appearances in all competitions for the League Two side, and scored his first goal for the club in their 2-0 win over Colchester on Friday night.

Now it seems as though Mellon has been impressed by what he has seen from the midfielder over the course of the past few weeks.

Giving his verdict on Hawkes after that win over Colchester, Mellon told Tranmere's official website: “He’s a fantastic addition to the squad, we’re delighted to have him here.

"We were always determined that we were going to try and get some flair in wide areas and some class in wide areas, so when we were able to get him from Sunderland we were really pleased."

Indeed, it seems Mellon believes there is still more to come from the midfielder this season, as he added: “He’s getting fitter, he never came here as fit as everybody else because he was a wee bit on the back foot.

"But, as you can see he’s a strong boy and he’s getting fitter all the time and he’ll be more and more important for us as the season goes on.”

Having joined Sunderland back in 2020, Hawkes has made two cup appearances for the Black Cats, and scored his first goal for the club in their EFL Cup win over Port Vale at the start of this season.

Tranmere meanwhile, are now fifth in the League Two table, one point adrift of the automatic promotion places.

The Verdict 

These comments on Hawkes certainly look to be promising from a Sunderland point of view.

The Black Cats will no doubt have wanted the midfielder to get plenty of opportunities during his time at Tranmere, something he has yet to really get at the Stadium of Light.

That is something that has indeed now happened, with Hawkes starting to feature regularly, and as Mellon has said, he does seem to be demonstrating the talent he possesses at Prenton Park.

As a result, you feel that Hawkes is now showing that he has the potential to make an impact for Sunderland themselves in the future, particularly as he develops over the rest of the season.