Neil Redfearn has heaped praise on Newcastle United youngster Luke Charman after he scored in the Under-21s’ 2-1 defeat against Macclesfield in the EFL Trophy at the Moss Rose on Tuesday night.
Charman, 21, levelled the scores in the 48th minute with a terrific curled effort from the edge of the Macclesfield penalty area before Virgil Gomis eventually scored the winning goal for the hosts.
After the match, Under-23s manager Redfearn was quick to praise Charman for his strike but admits that it is best for the young striker to stay grounded for now and keep working hard.
“Luke Charman’s goal is a great strike. I think he’s made good strides, but it’s getting the right messages inside his head, so he’s got the confidence to go and do it. We trust him, we like him as a player, he’s a great kid,” said Redfearn, as quoted by BBC Newcastle commentator Matthew Raisbeck via his personal Twitter account.
Redfearn: “Luke Charman’s goal is a great strike. I think he’s made good strides, but it’s getting the right messages inside his head, so he’s got the confidence to go and do it. We trust him, we like him as a player, he’s a great kid.” #NUFC
— Matthew Raisbeck (@raisbeck10) September 3, 2019
OPINION
Charman needs to start impressing for the Under-21s and Under-23s if he wants to ever stand a chance of playing for Newcastle’s first-team. The 21-year-old is yet to make a single senior appearance for the Magpies and it does not help that he has hardly been prolific for the club in Premier League 2 by only scoring 12 goals in 44 outings in that competition. Charman also had a very disappointing loan spell at Accrington Stanley last season when he made just four appearances before returning to the North-East in January. Charman didn’t even appear in a league match for Accrington as he was mainly used in the EFL Cup and FA Cup by the League One side. It will be interesting to see if the striker gets another loan spell away from Tyneside but at the moment, he does appear to be Redfearn’s go-to man up front and that goal against Macclesfield will only strengthen his place in the starting line-up.
