Malta striker Michael Mifsud went in for a lot of praise from his manager at Coventry City on Wednesday night.

Playing from the start for the first time since the arrival of new manager Iain Dowie, Mifsud played his best match since his January move to the Championship side, and was certainly instrumental in his side’s 2-1 win over promotion chasing Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Sean Taylor, PA Sport, writing on the Sporting Life website, said:

“Dowie was forced to make one change after top scorer Leon McKenzie suffered a thigh injury in the goalless draw against Colchester at the weekend, so Mifsud made his first start for just over a month.

The Maltese international striker turned in a man-of-the-match display and was singled out for praise by an impressed Dowie.

“I thought Michael was absolutely outstanding and he did everything but score,” said the City boss. “He was frightening. He ran past me so quick at one stage that my hair parted and I haven’t got any!”

Coventry had a strong case for a penalty waved away by referee Peter Walton early in the game when Mifsud was upended inside the box by former Sky Blues defender Gary Breen but to the astonishment of most inside the Ricoh Arena the spot-kick was not awarded.

Another English website, TEAMtalk, referred to Mifsud as key player in the match against Wolves. The Malta striker had several shots on target blocked.

And BBC Sport also included Dowie’s comments after the match. He indicated that Mifsud will be a certain starter in the forthcoming match against Barnsley at home on Saturday.

Dowie was quoted as saying:

“I thought Dele Adebola and Michael Mifsud were unplayable at times tonight.

“Dele has been superb ever since I arrived and I thought Michael was outstanding and there’s no doubt he’ll start on Saturday.

“Tonight was a huge performance and I’m absolutely delighted with how we have performed throughout a very tough period against some of the top sides.”