Eisa’s Charlton showing impressed boss Manning

Even though he failed to find the back of the net last night, Liam Manning was pleased with the work-rate of striker Mo Eisa against Charlton Athletic.

The 27-year-old has gone five games without a goal, but had two good efforts at The Valley to give Dons the lead but failed to get enough power behind his strikes which were routine in the end for Charlton keeper Nathan Harness.

After drawing a frustrating blank against Gillingham three days earlier too, Manning called for more from his strikers but was happy with Eisa’s performance in the Papa John’s Trophy.

“Mo showed some really intelligent movement,” said Manning. “He pulled off the shoulder, he arrived in the pocket and dropped into angles to receive it.

“He was on the wrong end of some offside decisions too, but it was the next bit which was lacking. He exploited the spaces out wide, but he had a couple of chances which arguably he should have scored.”

David Kasumu and Ethan Robson have found starts hard to come by of late, but their showings in the capital were exactly what Manning wanted to say, as he continued: “David and Ethan, centrally, controlled the game, I was really impressed.

“How they pressed, connected and played together was great, and for the second half, we challenged them to connect with the likes of Jay, Mo and Hiram higher up, which they did.”