IF Jayden Stockley were at Manchester United, he’d have cotton wool coming out of his ears.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on which way you look at it, Stockley is at Cherries – and they don’t have cotton wool at Dean Court. Never have had.

Such is the nature of Eddie Howe’s crisis in personnel, Stockley has been thrust into the limelight whether he likes it or not.

But having met the schoolboy on Tuesday night in Northampton, it’s pretty clear he is more than cut out for dealing with his ‘moment’.

Articulate, polite and oozing a confident swagger only a 16-year-old striker could have, Stockley impressed everyone around him at Sixfields.

Following his interview with the Daily Echo, the Lytchett Minster School pupil was dragged into the sponsors’ lounge at the ground and had a second microphone of the night thrust into his face.

Only this time there were 50-or-so suits in attendance and not just the man from the local newspaper.

Stockley answered the MC’s questions with clarity, good humour and with an undercurrent of steely determination for one so young.

He talked about his GCSEs, the fact he had to be up for school the following morning and how he was hoping for a lie-in following the trip back down the A34.

And with Howe’s experience in the club’s youth set-up and his impressive man-management skills, you wouldn’t bet against Stockley showing his class on the pitch in the years to come.

The Cherries boss just needs to find some bubble wrap...