McCarthy and Gardos brought composure, says Jaïdi

Both senior players were drafted in for the Premier League 2 match against the Gunners on Friday night, and helped the team record a valuable clean sheet.

Gardos completed 45 minutes on his first return from injury, and Jaïdi was pleased to help him take the first step back towards first team action.

“He’s been out of the pitches and the games for a long period and today he played. I think for an international player this is a good opportunity to start with,” he said.

“It was a positive performance and his attitude was great and an example for the boys. Hopefully he will get back soon to the Premier League.”
Goalkeeper McCarthy completed the full game, and it was his presence as much as his performance which impressed the U23s assistant coach.

“I told Alex and Florin from the start they were going to be the leaders because the younger boys needed their voice from behind,” Jaïdi explained.

“Alex McCarthy was calm and composed at the back and his distribution was great. Florin was similarly calm and composed and helped us especially when we pressed them well and they went direct, so Florin won the balls and kept things calm.

“When I spoke to Ollie Cook (who replaced Gardos) I told him to be ready and when he came on I thought he was competitive, good defensively, and hopefully we keep that understanding.”

In what was a physical contest at times which left Siph Mdlalose with a broken nose, the early exit of Jake Hesketh to a minor injury also gave cause for concern, and Jaïdi says the midfielder will be checked over before returning to action.

“Hopefully he is all right, but we’ll see,” he said. “We’ll assess him tonight and tomorrow to see what the result is but hopefully it’s not something long-term.”