Drissa Diallo hailed Joe Royle after the Ipswich Town chief clocked-up his 1,000th game in football management.
The veteran boss reached his prestigious milestone in last night's 1-1 Coca-Cola Championship draw against Reading at Portman Road.
And star defender Diallo was quick to praise his genial boss, whose career has spanned two decades and also taken in Oldham Athletic, Everton and Manchester City.
He said: "Joe made me his first signing at Ipswich and that will always mean a lot to me.
"To reach 1,000 games is a fantastic achievement and the players dearly wanted to give him the present he deserved - three points."
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