Cambridge United youngster Lohan McDougald rewarded for impressing Neil Harris with senior debut in 3-1 win over Luton Town

Head coach Neil Harris believes that the decision to hand Lohan McDougald his senior Cambridge United debut will serve two purposes.

On the one hand, McDougald’s outing as a second-half substitute in last night’s 3-1 win over Luton Town is a reward for the 16-year-old for impressing Harris and his coaching staff during recent Under-21s fixtures and in training sessions.

And the U’s boss is also hopeful that it will show the other youngsters currently working under the guidance of Under-18s boss Liam O’Neill and academy manager Dom Knighton that the opportunities are there if they apply themselves in the right way.

“Any time he’s stepped into a 21s game or he’s trained around the first team, he’s been very, very impressive,” said Harris.

“First and foremost, he’s got a long way to go as a young man to develop physically, as well as tactically and technically, but he’s got some outstanding attributes that I personally really like. He’s a cracking kid that trains really well.

“And I really like the way Liam O’Neill works and coaches his players. We just felt today it was the right time to include one of those youngsters in the group – an opportunity to do something different at first-team level.

“What do we do? We’ve got a space to put somebody on the bench, do we take somebody out of training and put a senior player on there who is not getting on? Or do we give it to a young player?

“We feel it rewards Liam and his group for their hard work. It gives an impetus to the young players – they can see if they perform to the best of their ability and their good young boys and players, they’ll get rewarded here.

“I’m delighted for Lohan, but we’re not going to get carried away.”

The attacking midfielder, who was born in Huntingdon, joined United from Godmanchester Rovers at Under-13 level.