Brian Barry-Murphy says record-breakers Rob Tankiewicz and Axel Donczew will handle being thrust into the first-team spotlight at Cardiff City. Tankiewicz (pictured above) became Cardiff's youngest ever first-team player as he started Tuesday's EFL Trophy match against Newport County at the age of 16 years and 117 days. The two attacking midfielders grabbed the headlines as Aaron Ramsey's long-held record as Cardiff's youngest player was wiped out – but Barry-Murphy says the duo have the personalities to cope.
Brian Barry-Murphy says record-breakers Rob Tankiewicz and Axel Donczew will handle being thrust into the first-team spotlight at Cardiff City.
Tankiewicz (pictured above) became Cardiff's youngest ever first-team player as he started Tuesday's EFL Trophy match against Newport County at the age of 16 years and 117 days.
But he held the record for only a little over an hour as Donczew (pictured below, right), at 15 years and 234 days, replaced him in the second half.
The two attacking midfielders grabbed the headlines as Aaron Ramsey's long-held record as Cardiff's youngest player was wiped out – but Barry-Murphy says the duo have the personalities to cope.
"These two are very grounded," said the Bluebirds head coach, who previously worked in Manchester City's academy.
"You are always looking at the personality of players and trying to pre-empt challenges that may come along the way.
"You get the feeling they have a real awareness of how good they are but their humility and how they approach their training on a daily basis… we have only seen Axel a few times because of his schooling, but you can see he is really down to earth and grounded.
"But when he plays with our players, he doesn't look in awe of them at all. When I have seen that in the past it normally means you don't have to worry too much about what they are going to do in the future."
Category: General Sports
