CHARLTON boss Phil Parkinson is backing Yado Mambo to bounce back from Tuesday’s nightmare display at Shrewsbury.
The 18-year-old defender scored an own goal as the Addicks threw away a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 against opponents from League Two, denying the cash-strapped club the opportunity of a much-needed cup run.
But far from being critical of Mambo’s display Parkinson instead predicted the youngster will benefit from the experience and added he will emerge as a key figure in SE7 soon.
The manager said: “What a great learning curve it was for Yado Mambo playing in that environment. He went on loan last year and this is the next step for him.
“He is disappointed we conceded the goals and he will learn from that but I’m confident Yado Mambo will be a Charlton regular in years to come, maybe even sooner than that.
“It was a good opportunity to give a few of the young players a game and I wouldn’t change that because if you don’t play them, then when are you going to see them?
“The players who played in that game will certainly have learnt a lot as individuals and take it with them the next time they get an opportunity.
“It was a strange feeling because obviously we were disappointed to lose a three-goal lead but there were some very good signs in the game.
“I thought Ross Warner, although he let four goals in, in our eyes to come out of it that he did well and it was a good debut for him in many aspects.”
Parkinson added: “In the dressing room afterwards it was all about what we could learn from it, especially for the young players.
“We probably got a bit over-confident on the ball and took a few liberties in certain areas. We found ourselves at 3-2 and we had to respond again and those phases of the game are so important, mentally as a player.
“Perhaps we didn’t do that as best as we should but also maybe that was to be expected in terms of the youthful side we had out.”
The experience gained by the club’s youngsters wasn’t the only positive for Parky, who also used the game to run his eye over some of his more senior new signings.
He said: “It was good for players like Simon Francis and Lee Martin to get a game. It was one of those mixed bag team selections where there were one or two senior players behind in terms of pre-season preparation and needed to play.
“Simon Francis is getting there.
“It’s always tough when you get your first 90 minutes under your belt but we wanted to push him to get through the full game because I think he needed to do that.
“He’d done 60 minutes the week before and he feels good this morning. He has not felt too many ill-effects from it which is a good sign.
“We held him back on Saturday against Bournemouth to get some more fitness work into him and hopefully we will benefit from that.”
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