Jonathan Woodgate has told summer signings Anfernee Dijksteel and Marc Bola that they will still be given a chance to impress despite struggling in the League Cup defeat to Crewe last night.

The two full-backs arrived from Charlton and Blackpool respectively during the summer window and came with decent reputations.

However, they seriously struggled, particularly in the first-half as the League Two side raced into a two-goal lead.

Whilst they improved after the break, with Bola scoring the equaliser to take it to penalties, it's fair to say it wasn't the debuts the pair were hoping for.

Yet, Woodgate told Teesside Live that he is prepared to be patient with the duo, who he backed to come good.

"They still have a big part to play for this football club. Just because they didn't play great (against Crewe) doesn't mean they're out of the picture. They're going to be good players for the club.

"It was Marc and Anfernee's full debuts with the starts, listen they will be good players. One bad performance doesn't mean they're going to be bad for the rest of the season."

The Verdict

This is good management from Woodgate as losing to Crewe is a poor result but he still wants to back his players.

There's no getting away from the fact that the full-backs struggled but it can be tough to integrate into a new team and starting in a much-changed XI didn't help either.

It's now down to the players to respond to this support from the manager by performing on the training ground and taking the next opportunity that comes their way.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.