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Andy Hessenthaler says his young players will be better for their National League experience this season.
Dover fielded teenagers TJ Bramble and Bayli Spencer-Adams in their defence at Wrexham on Saturday alongside 21-year-old Millwall loanee Harry Ransom.
The Whites boss knows there will bumps in the road for the youngsters but is sure they will learn on the job.
“We’ve got some young players in our defence, TJ Bramble is 19, Bayli is 19, Harry Ransom is 21,” said Hessenthaler.
“There’s three really young players and they need to be taught.
“They are going to make errors at their age, especially the league position we are in and having young players in those positions.
“The year we came in here, we were able to sign experienced defenders, players that knew the league and had played at this level. That really helped us.
“It’s going to be tough for these players but they need to learn - and they will - and they will be better players for it.”
Hessenthaler will be looking for his senior players to set the example, however, and was left to bemoan bad decision-making at Wrexham.
Keeper Yusuf Mersin could have done better on two of the goals and Hessenthaler’s patience will run thin if his experienced players let their standards slip.
“When senior players make the mistakes then it becomes a worry,” added the Dover boss. “You can almost understand it if the younger ones do it but it just can’t happen for the senior players.
“Yusuf the keeper was at fault and he knows – he is not silly. We’ve got to cut them out, especially when we go away from home.
“We came in at half-time and said we’ve got a chance so let’s make sure we take something from the game.
“There was nothing in the game. Unfortunately for us, it was individual errors for the second and third goals that cost us.”
Hessenthaler took plenty of positives from the Wrexham defeat, however, and felt the hosts were fortunate to retain 11 players on the pitch.
“The performance wasn’t bad,” added Hessenthaler. “It looked like we were beaten comfortably but it wasn’t like that, their third goal came in the 94th minute.
“They were fortunate to have 11 players on the pitch, the lad who scored the penalty should have been sent-off for two yellow cards. The referee’s performance was bang average.
“For me the first goal is a team error but we got back into the game and then we made two mistakes. We’ve talked through it and looked at it.
“At 1-1, there wasn’t a lot in the game. We made a poor decision for the second goal and got punished for it. The third goal, they counter-attacked and we gave away a silly penalty.
“It wasn’t what we were looking for but it wasn’t a terrible performance. We’ve got to cut out the errors because you get punished in this league for them.
“We’ve spoken about it at training, we’ve gone through the analysis. We’ve got to nip it in the bud as we’ve still got 32 games to go.”
Midfielder Ryan Hanson’s loan spell from Hull is due to expire this week with Hessenthaler hoping to extend the deal for at least a further month, and possibly to the end of the season.
