Fulham’s Collins John has revealed manager Chris Coleman prohibited him from talking to the press after his recent goalscoring exploits – leaving him hugely frustrated.

The Liberian hit-man, who joined the Londoners from Twente Enschede in January, opened his Cottagers account with four goals in two games against Leicester and Blackburn over the Easter period.

However, John was forbidden from expressing his delight to the media by Coleman, explaining that his manager wanted to try and prevent a weight of expectation building upon him.

However,the 18-year-old acknowledged he was not in complete agreement his manager’s stance.

“The manager held me back completely,” John stated. “I was not allowed to speak to a single reporter.

“He said it was for my own protection and he does want any unnecessary pressure on me. I can understand that.

“But I would have found it nice to do so, as I had plenty to talk about. “Everyone is now looking at me in an entirely new light and I feel on a high.

“I watched a Chelsea game recently and they had Hernan Crespo and Adrian Mutu on the bench. “They both cost millions of pounds more than me, but they hardly get to play any games.

“That made a powerful impression on me.”