JOE Edwards has revealed his excitement for Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s future after the 19-year-old’s impressive display against Sunderland.
The Arsenal loanee was handed the man of the match award in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland.
He assisted Kevin Nisbet’s goal with a wonderful cross and proved to be a threat throughout in his most complete performance in a Millwall shirt so far.
With Ryan Leonard occupying his usual right-back position, Norton-Cuffy was once again pushed forward to a more advanced wide position.
It helped result in his first assist for the club, weeks on from his first goal for Millwall.
Edwards was asked what he made of the teenager’s performance and what he had seen of him in training.
He said: “He was really good. When you talk about Brooke in training, I’ve not seen loads of him training. When I came the international break was a week after I came and Brooke went away and then this week with the three games.
“Brooke’s physical output has been massive, he covers a lot out there. The work we’ve been able to do with him on the training pitch has been minimal. I did actually, when he went with England, I spoke to [England Under-21 assistant coach] Ashley Cole and Adam Lallana [the Brighton midfielder who has been helping out with England’s Under-21s] about what I’ve seen in the first week and how they could help him while he was away. But yeah definitely an exciting player with a lot of potential.
“What you’re able to do with him is play him as a traditional right-back in a back four, which I think would be his preferred position and what he wants to be in his longer career because he has that natural defensive ability.
“But what he can offer you going forward as well, particularly when you look at the cross for the goal today, he’s got both sides of the game. And I think like any player it’s about consistency and how much can he continue to impact games throughout the course of them.”
The Lions head coach was also asked about if he’s in a constant dialogue with Norton-Cuffy’s parent club, Arsenal.
He said: “Yeah for sure, I think it’s always important. I’ve been on the other side of that working at clubs where we’ve loaned players out. It’s important that while Brooke’s here he feels absolutely like a Millwall player and he’s immersed in what we’ve doing but, at the same time, if Arsenal have put years of work and development plan in place, it’s important that we’re aligned with what we’re speaking about.
Millwall confirmed after the game that Norton-Cuffy cannot be recalled by Arsenal in January having met a loan clause to meet a required amount of starts for his loan club.