JOSH Hawkes made an immediate impact on his Tranmere Rovers debut and has impressed his new employers and team mates. 

Hawkes' corner ball was floated to the back post where Tom Davies headed home in the 89th minute to hand Rovers a late 1-0 win over Pools at Prenton Park.

The 22-year-old has signed for the League Two outfit on loan until the end of the season from Sunderland in a bid to gain some game time on Merseyside. 

The move was sanctioned by the Black Cats despite the fact he scored his first goal for the club recently but the likes of Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman and the rest of the coaching staff will be keeping a keen eye on his progress at Prenton Park. 

Speaking after the win over Pools yesterday, Rovers manager Micky Mellon said: "He's a really good talented player. We're really pleased to have him here and his delivery for big (Tom) Davies header is terrific. 

"He hit one in just before that and he had a volley as well so he had a bit of an impact when he came on." 

The goalscorer Tom Davies said: "We played against him in pre-season so we know he's a good player. You're not going to come to this club if you're not a good player. 

"You saw how he changed the game when he came on and that shows the quality that we've got with people like that coming off the bench." 

While there are still plenty of players ahead of him in the pecking order at Sunderland, he'll go hoping to build on his early start to forge his way into the first-team next season.