STEVE Fletcher believes hat-trick hero Josh McQuoid possesses the attributes to rival his finest Cherries strike partners and insists: “He’s got everything in his locker.”

Cherries’ club captain joined the McQuoid fan club after watching Dean Court’s latest goalscoring talent hit the first treble of his professional career in Saturday’s extraordinary 5-3 FA Cup win.

The Lymington-raised frontman struck with just 50 seconds on the clock and doubled the lead with a terrific finish before Marc Pugh unleashed a fine third inside seven minutes.

Tranmere Rovers hit back through Aaron Cresswell, Ian Goodison and Ian Thomas-Moore, but McQuoid soon calmed Cherries’ nerves and Liam Feeney’s sweet effort sealed the victory and £18,000 prize money.

McQuoid’s performance lit up the absorbing first round tie and his exploits were all the more impressive given that he had gone 10 games without hitting the net.

Fletcher, who started alongside the emerging talent, reckons the 20-year-old is blessed with even more attributes than some of the prolific performers he has led the line with during his distinguished career.

He told the Echo: “He’s the type of player I love to play with – absolutely.

“I’ve had them down the years – Jermain Defoe, Mark Stein, James Hayter and Brett Pitman – they are all that type of player.

“We’ve got to disregard Jermain because he was a different kettle of fish.

“But Josh has got a little bit more in his locker than all the others have got. None of them have ever had his blistering pace.

“He works hard for the team, he knows his role, he doesn’t get carried away, he’s level-headed and he’s got every attribute you could possibly have for the type of forward he is.”

McQuoid has made his first-team breakthrough since Pitman’s departure, scoring eight goals during Cherries’ promising start.

Fletcher added: “He’s been outstanding and one of the reasons we’re in the position we are in the league.

“It’s not just about him scoring goals – he’s got pace, good feet, skill, ability, good energy levels and he’s good in the air. There’s not a lot he hasn’t got.

“He’s never going to be a big bruiser but he doesn’t want to be because that would take away from all the other attributes he’s got.”

McQuoid admitted he was pleased to end his scoring drought and added: “We showed good character.

“When they scored the third goal, a lot of heads could’ve gone down, but we carried on doing what we do and we got the quick goal, which helped us massively.

“I hadn’t got a goal for a while so to get it at the start of the game was good for me and then I kicked on from there.

“As a striker I want to score as many goals as I can and to get the hat-trick was really pleasing.”