Chris Groves
JOHN Sheridan is confident that young defender Aaron Bentley will learn from his sending off in Argyle's 2-1 defeat to Oxford United.
Bentley started his third consecutive game for the Greens as part of a central defensive trio alongside Carl McHugh and Anthony O'Connor. Filling in for the injured Peter Hartley and Curtis Nelson, the 19-year-old won plenty of headers and looked accomplished on the ball, before his 33rd minute dismissal.
With Argyle a goal up after Lewis Alessandra had put the Pilgrims ahead, Bentley advanced up the field to make a challenge in a sideline scramble with a number of players, but was sent off for his forceful lunge on Sam Long. Oxford went on to take advantage of their advantage in numbers with second half goals from John Campbell and James Roberts helping them to record a 2-1 victory that looked extremely unlikely when 22 players were on the field.
Whilst his manager is disappointed with the challenge, Sheridan is sure that his player will bounce back from the incident and learn from his error.
"He is young kid. It is very naïve, and I could just see it coming," said John.
"Listen: he is a young kid and he will learn, and there is no blame whatsoever. Obviously it does help the opposition, because they get a bit of belief and a bit more of the ball and possession.
"Obviously it disrupts us, but afterward we adjusted and performed really well.
"He has come from twenty yards away. It is just a bit of naivety from him, but he will learn from it."