Mark Cooper says Offrande Zanzala’s future is entirely down to the striker himself.

The Barrow AFC man scored on his debut for Exeter City after joining the Grecians on loan for the rest of the season.

Cooper allowed summer signing Zanzala to make a temporary move away from Holker Street in a bid to restore his confidence.

The 25-year-old wasted no time in making his mark for Matt Taylor’s Exeter in their 2-0 win against Scunthorpe United.

Cooper says the frontman will hopefully return to Holker Street in brighter form after his half-season stint in Devon.

The Barrow manager told The Mail: “That’s the thinking, but you know what football’s like; things change overnight.

“He’s here, he’s got another year after this one, and it’s down to Oz, what he does at Exeter and how he performs down there – he’s putting himself in the shop window.

“He’s another who got injured early on and it hampered his progress with us.

“He needs to go there and see if he can get a run of games. To do that he’s got to do well because Exeter have got some really good players, so I hope he does well.”

Cooper, speaking on BBC Cumbria on Saturday, described the striker as “agent Zanzala” after his goal helped put further distance between Barrow and the drop zone.

Exeter’s win, combined with AFC’s excellent 2-0 triumph at Colchester, means Barrow are now seven points above second-bottom Scunny with a game in hand.

Zanzala’s 76th-minute goal at St James’ Park was his first in 11 appearances since his televised effort for the Bluebirds at Banbury in the FA Cup.

Cooper added of the former Carlisle United, Accrington Stanley and Crewe Alexandra man: “I think his confidence was low, he’d missed some really good chances, and that happens to a forward – if they miss lots of really good chances it can affect their confidence.

“If the crowd turn against you a little bit it’s difficult to get back. It seemed the logical thing to do was try and get him out to play some games.

“We’ve given him lots of opportunities, he’s tried hard and the thinking behind it was to get some of his wages in so we could go and maybe get two players in for what we’re getting back.”

Barrow have brought in two loan strikers in the shape of Will Harris and Jacob Wakeling, both of whom made their debuts in the Colchester victory.