The 23-year-old has been thrust into a starting role after Jozy Altidore's hamstring injury, and he's not looking out of place.

TORONTO — In what was another frustrating day at the park for a Toronto FC team dealing with a spell of them recently, young forward Mo Babouli provided a spark of life to a TFC attack sorely lacking in that department.

It started on Wednesday when Babouli earned his first MLS start, filling in for the injured Jozy Altidore alongside TFC magician Sebastian Giovinco. Babouli had a rough go of things for the first quarter-hour of Wednesday's draw with New York City FC, but over the final 75 minutes he showed flashes of the attacking ability that prompted Toronto to sign him as a homegrown prospect in the offseason.

And in Saturday's frustrating 0-0 draw with Columbus Crew — which stretched TFC's winless skid at BMO Field to three matches — it was Babouli who was the catalyst behind most of the chances his side did muster.

"Mo was very good today. I think he's kind of blossoming before our eyes in a way," Toronto head coach Greg Vanney said of the 23-year-old Canadian. "You can see that he's powerful, he's gifted in terms of technical ability, [and] he's now continuing to grow in his tactical awareness of the game and reading certain plays and things that can happen out there, and for me that's kind of his last evolution as he continues to grow as a player."

Babouli's increasing confidence was palpable on Saturday, and early in the second half he weaved through the Crew defense and sent in a cutting through ball for Giovinco that should have been finished by the little Italian.

Babouli with a fantastic ball, but Giovinco can't quite finish. pic.twitter.com/2lvSaHhAxM — Total MLS (@TotalMLS) May 21, 2016

It was the type of play that usually only gets tried by far more experienced players rather than a first-year Canadian fresh out of the TFC academy program, but Babouli had the self-assurance to attempt a number of things that many others in his position wouldn't.

But as Vanney pointed out, setting up others is a great starting point for the player, but eventually Babouli — as a forward — will need to add goals to his repertoire if he wants to keep getting major minutes when Altidore returns.

"I'd like to find ways that we can get him looks on goal and he can get himself looks on goal," Vanney said, re-iterating his belief in his young charge. "That's gonna come, because he's a goal scorer."

For now, Babouli will surely be satisfied with creating chances for his teammates. His 42nd-minute cross on Wednesday night led directly to Will Johnson's equalizer against New York City FC, and with better luck he would have had the game-winning assist on Saturday.

And with more playing time on offer comes more opportunity to grow into the standard of an MLS attacker. It's something that Vanney believes will happen sooner rather than later.

"When you put a challenge in front of Mo, because he's a very good soccer player, he figures out a way and he works his way through to rise to the level."

Fans of TFC, and potentially the Canadian national team, will hope that Vanney's faith works out in the end.