Shrimps boss Stephen Robinson has heaped praise upon young goalkeeper Andre Da Silva Mendes after his impressive debut for the Club.
An injury to Kyle Letheren in the warm-up saw the 18-year-old thrown straight into the action, and Robinson said despite the injury to Letheren, Da Silva Mendes stood up and made it count when called upon.
He said: “I thought Andre [Da Silva Mendes] was very good, it was his debut and he has only trained three days since coming back from an injury to one of his wrists.
“Barry Roche has high hopes for him and he proved that on the night, he was thrown in at the deep end at the last minute.
“It is unfortunate for Kyle [Letheren] who has been the ultimate pro since we have left him out of the team, it is unfortunate for him but Andre certainly took his opportunity.”
After a 2-0 defeat to Carlisle United on the night, Robinson’s Shrimps finished bottom of their Papa John’s Trophy group and the Northern Irishman says that players have to find a bit of belief in themselves ahead of a busy run of fixtures.
“We have to clear our heads, you cannot spend time feeling sorry for yourself, if you get stick about this result, we will take it and start again,” he added.
“It is a big run of games coming up, games that I feel that we can win - we showed on Saturday [against Newport County] that we can defend, we can defend our box and throw our bodies on the line.
“It is just about getting that belief and consistency to do that, ahead of a month with some big, big games in it.”