Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Will Lankshear starred for Middlesbrough in their win over Wrexham in the Carabao Cup
Middlesbrough star Will Lankshear became the first player to be punished under a new rule which is being imposed by the English Football League (EFL) this season. Lankshear was in action for Boro as he and his teammates faced Wrexham in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Friday night.
The 21-year-old scored the only goal of the game as Boro claimed a 1-0 victory at the Riverside to secure their spot in the second round of the competition.
However, Lankshear’s evening ended on a bizarre note as he was penalised after being substituted in the closing minutes.
Boro boss Kim Hellberg opted to replace Lankshear with Fin Cartwright, and went on to applaud the home fans as he made his way off the pitch.
Lankshear’s exit was deemed to have taken longer than the 10 seconds, which will now be in place in the EFL this season, which has been introduced to stop time-wasting.
As a result of the violation, Lankshear’s replacement, Cartwright, was forced to wait on the touchline for a whole minute before being allowed onto the pitch.
Lankshear only joined Boro last month, signing for the club on a permanent deal worth around £10million, plus a further £10million in add-ons.
The striker spent last season on loan at Oxford United and has now embarked on a new challenge at Boro on a permanent basis, where he will be hoping to help the Teesside club have a promotion push.
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Hellberg was full of praise for Lankshear after the striker’s debut for the club, where he tipped the former Tottenham star to have a bright future.
“He did a very strong season at Oxford in a different system and different way of playing, which I think he will have learned a lot from,” Hellberg said, via Teesside Live.
“You could see how active he was [against Wrexham], both offensively and defensively, which I think was a major step forward from last week [against Espanyol].
“He has been with us for around two weeks and he will just keep on improving. He wants to learn and improve, and that’s the type of player I love working with.”