1 week Ago
Norwich City full-back Ben Chrisene was pleased for Lucien Mahovo to receive his first-team chance, even if it came at his expense. Mahovo quickly rose through the ranks after joining the Canaries as a development signing, making his senior debut for the club less than a year after signing for National League North Boston United on loan. He replaced more experienced colleague Chrisene to do so, coming into Johannes Hoff Thorup's starting line-up just as Callum Doyle's move to centre-back appeared to work in the ex-Aston Villa man's favour.
Chrisene says he was disappointed to lose his own shot at Championship game time, but couldn't hide his happiness on the 19-year-old's behalf. "It's always going to be frustrating for someone when you're starting and then someone else comes in and just takes your place," he told the Pink Un. "But at the same time I was happy for Lucien as well.
He had trained with us quite a bit beforehand and he was waiting for his first opportunity. To be fair to him he took the opportunity, which is all credit to him, isn't it? "Now we've got a really good relationship where we're kind of helping each other, and I think that it's important for next season that we drive each other. That's what's best for the team.
" All of City's left-back options are currently out injured, with Chrisene and Mahovo unable to feature again this season. The former has set his sights on a summer return, however, and believes that that's key to his hopes of a strong 2025-26 campaign. "It's so important," he continued.
"I think pre-season's the time where everything just clicks together, and with new players coming in and players coming out, it's an important time for the team to gel together before the season starts. "If we can hit the ground running next season and have a good start, it'll kind of set us up for the whole season.".
