‘Humble young man’ Mason Burstow making impact – Charlton boss Johnnie Jackson

Posted Sunday, January 23, 2022 by PA

Charlton manager Johnnie Jackson hailed the humility of teenager Mason Burstow after the 18-year-old helped his side record a 2-0 win over Fleetwood at The Valley.

Burstow headed home his fifth goal in his first 13 appearances as a professional, seven of which have come as a substitute, before Albie Morgan guaranteed Charlton’s first league win in five games.

Jackson said: “We’ve not been on a great run and the players looked a little edgy in the first half, but I felt the boys’ effort deserved that victory today.

“I’m really pleased for Mason again. It’s always nice when graduates make it into the first team, let alone have the impact that he’s having.

“He started out in the Papa John’s Trophy games, he had FA Cup opportunities and now he’s getting opportunities in the league.

“With every step up that he makes, he’s having an impact, so it’s fantastic for him because he’s a really humble young man who’s very respectful around the group.

“The lads respect him because of what he brings to the party and he deserves his place in the team. He deserved his start and now he’s rewarded us with a goal.”

Jackson nodded with a smile as he acknowledged Burstow’s savvy reaction to being substituted and walking off to the nearest touchline so that he could lap up an ovation from the Charlton faithful as he returned to the bench.

Jackson added: “It was a bit of showmanship. That’s centre-forwards for you. Fair play to him to do that and get his ripple of applause from the fans.

“We see young players like Mason in training during the week, so you’re not rolling them out there just gambling and hoping. You’ve seen enough evidence to know that they are capable.”

Fleetwood manager Stephen Crainey is also in the process of bringing through young attacking players, notably Paddy Lane and Cian Hayes, and believes that experiences like losing at The Valley will offer valuable lessons for his fledglings.

Crainey said: “I’m disappointed to lose the game because I genuinely didn’t think there was anything in it. When you come to stadiums like Charlton, you need to take chances when you’re on top.

“We just needed a wee bit of composure in the final third today, but the players gave me everything again and on another day we could have got a positive result.

“It’s a minor blip today but the good thing in football is that you’ve always got another game to try and rectify things and we’ll be looking to do that against Plymouth on Tuesday.

“Playing at places like Charlton in League One is great experience for the young players at an early age. I actually thought the young players played well today,

“We want to develop young players at the football club. That’s what we’re doing and we’ll continue to do that.

“As a young player in particular, and a footballer in general, everything’s not going to be rosy. When you get setbacks like today, it’s about how you bounce back from it.

“For them to get the experience of coming here and games like this make them robust for the future. Hopefully they learn from it and take it into the coming games.”