The youngster found the net with each of his first two touches after coming on as a second half substitute before completing his hat-trick - and the scoring - from the penalty spot.
A Reigan Heskey brace and Farid Alfa-Ruprecht strike set the seal on an emphatic win for the Blues, who are closing in on progression to the next round of the competition with one match left to play.
And while Wilkinson highlighted the important role McAidoo’s team-mates played in his eye-catching performance, our Elite Development Squad boss felt it was just rewards for his efforts.
CITY 6-1 FEYENOORD | MATCH REPORT
He said: “It’s one of the better ones [substitute appearances] for sure!
“He was close to starting the game, he’s done really well when he’s played in this competition so far this season and we did consider him seriously as a number nine today which is somewhere he’s not played with us before.
“We thought he might be better to come on later in the game and impact when the spaces were a bit bigger and that’s kind of what happened.
“We know he can come short and linking the play but also run in behind which is what he did for his first couple of goals. It’s a great day for him in terms of getting the rewards for his work.
“But it’s a team game and he probably got the reward of some of the other lads’ work in terms of the effort they put in and spaces they created.”
Hear Ben’s full-time thoughts via the video above…
