Monday 2 April 2012 12:52, UK
Luke Garbutt has thanked Cheltenham manager Mark Yates for giving him the opportunity to shine in the Football League.
Yates brought Garbutt to Whaddon Road on loan from Everton in September and the left-back has excelled ever since, making 30 appearances as the Robins have enjoyed a superb League Two campaign and a run to the third round of the FA Cup. The 18-year-old remains grateful to his boss for handing him the platform on which to perform, and he hopes his term in Gloucestershire will set him up for bigger and better things. "I came down here unproven and he's always given me the chance to express myself and show what I am capable of," Garbutt said. "That's all I needed to show what I can do and having the chance to play first team football has helped me a lot. "I was in the reserves and maybe had not kicked on as I would have liked, and how Everton might have wanted. But over the last 12 months, looking back on them now, I've kicked on a lot and improved a lot. "I'm a lot further forward in my career now and hopefully I'm in a good position to keep making progress when I go back to Everton in pre-season. I might get a few games then and hopefully impress."
