Peter Kioso gives credit to manager Craig Hignett and Hartlepool United teammates following match-winning strike at Torquay

The young right-back showed confidence in abundance as he surged down the right flank before hammering in the winner at Torquay on Saturday.

In only his second full season as a professional, Kioso still recognises the importance of learning from his manager and more experienced teammates.

“I am confident, as a footballer there’s no point in being timid and shy,” he stated.

“On and off the pitch I am quite confident but I’m also respectful because I am the youngest in the team and I’m always ready to learn as well.

“So it always helps that the boys are taking care of me and that I’ve got a good group around me.

“Credit to the gaffer [Craig Hignett] as well because he’s always encouraging me to get forward and in and around the box. At Torquay, he told me I was going to get a goal and thankfully I did at the end.

“We didn’t do that well on the ball on Saturday but we knew what type of game it would be and I thought we did very well to bounce back after being under the cosh and I’m delighted to have contributed with the winning goal.”

Kioso picked up a calf strain early in the season which has somewhat restricted his playing time so far as he revealed he has had to play through the pain barrier at times so far.

On his start to the season, the defender commented: “It’s been a little bit of a weird start for me compared to last year because I didn’t really get injured last year until December and I played quite a lot of games before that.

“This season I’ve had quite a bad niggle but at the end of the day that’s football so I try and get through it.

“When I need to rest, I’m doing my proper rest but when I need to play, I’m doing everything I can on the pitch.

“The gaffer knows even if I’m a bit injured or if I’m fully fit, I’m ready to play.”