DOUGIE Freedman will not discourage match-winner David Ngog from showing his wild side.

Despite seeing his striker sent off after scoring the winner in Saturday evening’s thrilling 2-1 win over top-of-the-table Cardiff City, the Scot has called for him to keep showing a devilish streak in the future.

Ngog will now miss tomorrow night’s home game with Leicester City after picking up two yellow cards within six minutes to leave his side with 10 men going into injury time.

Freedman refused to criticise the £4million Frenchman, however, as it was his brilliant second-half cameo that helped give him a dream start as Whites boss.

“You’ve got to live on the edge,” he said. “That’s what being a striker is all about.

“There’s no use him bringing 90 per cent of his game. Sometimes he’ll step over the line and get sent off but I need my players treading the line because I need to feel he can’t give any more than he’s given.”

Ngog had seen an earlier effort ruled out for offside, even though the TV cameras later showed that the goal should have stood.

Freedman resisted the opportunity to criticise the officials, and hopes that he can now get Ngog and all his fellow strikers firing.

“It was a wonderful run and a great finish,” he said of the goal ruled out by the linesman, “It was onside, but I’ll not sit and complain about that or the sending off either.

“It’s living on the edge as a centre forward. You’re just onside, or you’re not, but you keep going.

“I’d hope David can come back feeling good now.

“Working with a lot of raw talent down in South London has helped me guide players the right way and I’d been speaking to Kev, David and Marvin Sordell about their movement.

“Hopefully we can keep building that confidence bit by bit.”

Freedman made four changes to the team beaten at Middlesbrough – dropping Tyrone Mears from the squad, and relegating Jay Spearing, Martin Petrov and Tim Ream to the bench – and confirmed that none of the decisions had been prompted by injuries.

He also employed a new system, with a deeper lying midfield, and though it struggled at first to break Cardiff down, the introduction of Ngog and Petrov in the second half flipped the game on its head.

“I don’t know what happened the last few weeks,” Freedman said. “I’ve picked a team that I thought would win us a game of football.

“These guys have got to get to know very quickly that this Championship – and unfortunately I’ve been in it too long – but it needs a squad.

“A squad takes part in winning games over the duration of a season. It was certainly the squad that won us this game.”

Colin Todd was the last Wanderers boss to gain victory in his first game in permanent charge, having beaten Bradford City in the FA Cup in January 1996.

Bruce Rioch also gained a win in his first game in the hotseat, but Freedman’s four predecessors - Sam Allardyce, Sammy Lee, Gary Megson and Owen Coyle - all had to wait for three points.