Pearson broke his leg against Middlesbrough last January

Barrow co-boss Dave Bayliss has praised defender Mike Pearson after his return to competitive action in Saturday's 2-0 win at Cambridge United.

Pearson, 21, suffered a double-leg break against Middlesbrough in January but came on from the bench when Sean Newton was sent off in the game.

"To come back from the injury he'd had, he hasn't trained with us for three weeks," he told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"He's a great lad and a great acquisition, it'll make us stronger."

Pearson, who arrived at Holker Street from Oldham Athletic in the summer of 2008, is expected to feature in Tuesday's Blue Square Premier visit of Altrincham.

Barrow gave debuts to six new faces in the starting XI at the Abbey Stadium on Saturday, and Bayliss was quick to pay tribute to goalkeeper Stuart Tomlinson, who marked his last-minute signing with a clean sheet on his debut.

"The keeper's never even had a practice session with the back four today, and I thought he marshalled them very well," he said.

"When balls were coming into the box he was coming out and being intimidating to the strikers.

"We want our keeper to be our sweeper and he's done that today, he's made some excellent saves, for a big fellow he's got great agility and his distribution of the ball is really good."

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