Daniel Farke is convinced Adam Idah will reap the longer term benefits of a daunting full Premier League debut in Norwich City’s 4-0 defeat at Manchester United.
The 18-year-old got had to mix it with full internationals Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof with none of the service he enjoyed in a breakthrough FA Cup hat-trick display at Preston.
Teemu's Pukki return to training after injury ahead of this weekend's relegation duel with Bournemouth may relegate Idah to the shadows again for now, but Farke saw enough in a 65 minute outing to suggest he can make the step up.
"I was pleased with Adam," said Farke. "He worked his socks off but he was up against Harry Maguire, one of the best centre backs in the world, and also (Victor) Lindelof.
"It says a lot about our situation at present that I have to give a full Premier League debut at Old Trafford to an 18-year-old but with Teemu and Josip not available we are struggling.
"I didn't expect him to come in and be able to out-perform (Anthony) Martial on the other side. But a good experience and he will learn from this."
Pukki and Ben Godfrey are expected to be in the mix for a game against the Cherries that is real test of City's survival instincts as opposed to their United mauling.
"It was not a season-defining game for us. We came to one of the greatest clubs in the world against a team who were highly-motivated to respond after losing in the cup," he said. "We cannot say this is not a difficult moment and it is always tough to keep believing.
"We are in the worst position in the table. When you lose in that manner by that scoreline it is not easy to take for the confidence.
"It is also important to be realistic. We are a promoted side and we have injuries to key players so it was never going to be easy for us to win the game.
"We know at our best level we are competitive. We have to keep going. I liked the reaction to stick together after it went 4-0.
"It is not nice to lose 4-0 but it can happen on this level. We know how important it is to win points at home and hopefully we have some injured players back for Bournemouth."
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