The versatile 20-year-old defender only arrived from West Brom hours before Thursday's deadline but was thrown straight into the mix at Boundary Park after fellow loanee Julian Bennett was struck down with a trapped nerve in his hip.
And, despite the disappointing 1-0 loss at Oldham which plunged Town back into the bottom four, Turner reserved warm words for Gayle following his performance at right-back.
"I think he's a tidy player," Turner said. "He can play anywhere across the back and I think he got forward quite well, second half in particular, and used the ball, particularly playing balls into front men and feeding his wide player, which is expected of him.
"So I think for a young lad to come in and have one day's training, he probably wouldn't have been thrown in at the deep end had Julian been fit, he acquitted himself very well."
