THE Green Army have been crying out for Craig Noone to be a regular in the Argyle team for a long time.

It has taken a lot of work on his defensive qualities and commitment on the training ground, but head coach Paul Mariner believes we now have a special winger on our hands.

Noone was in stunning form in a fascinating 1-1 draw with Leicester City, which was capped by his fabulous equalizing header following Kári Árnason's own goal.

"It was better than anything I can do," said Mariner. "He is that type of player, all things to all men at the present moment.

"He's got pace, he goes by people, he's a crowd-pleaser, and he's tracking back and working both sides of the ball.

"I'll have to look at the DVD but my thinking is that he started that move and carried on his run.

"It was a tremendous ball in the box by Chris Clark, another unsung hero we had to take off because of a tight hamstring. It was a great ball and a great run, and a great header that gave the 'keeper no chance.

"The performance has been coming and we've been talking to him day-in, day-out. We know what he can do going forward but it's the other side of the ball, and he's been doing that constantly in training, so, therefore he's in the starting 11.

"When he's dancing by defenders, he looks fantastic. Then, there has got to be the end product and he has to get back into his slot. He produced all of that today."

The performance was all the more impressive, given that Noone missed the midweek draw with Swansea because of a family bereavement.

"He's had some shocking news recently and missed some days in training, so I am a little shocked he kept up that level for 94 minutes," said Mariner.

"It is a credit to him as a professional and a credit to the backroom staff that maintain the fitness of the players."