Sorensen can improve, says U23s’ coach

ELIAS Sorensen has now taken his tally of goals to 15 for the season after helping sink Grimsby Town in the Checkatrade Trophy but he still has plenty of room for improvement - according to his coach Ben Dawson.

The Danish teenager has been the headline act in the second string’s campaign after rising to the challenge of wearing the No 9 shirt in the club’s reserve side.

His exploits have resulted in calls for him to be handed a first-team debut, with boss Rafa Benitez taking a long hard look at him in first-team training.

However, Dawson feels Sorensen simply needs to continue what he has been doing and the rest will take care of itself.

The youngster created an equaliser for Cal Roberts at Blundell Park and also scored himself - but late in the game he was drawn into a spat with Grimsby defenders and United withdrew him from the action.

When asked if it is a case of managing the teenager’s emotions, Dawson told the Chronicle: “Yeah, that is it.

“I had a word with him afterwards and when things were not going well you could see his body language.

“I had to tell him people are watching him all the time.

“The ball may be down the other side of the pitch but they will still be watching him to see what his reaction is.

“He is still young and still learning. He had a great opportunity to have a few days up with the first team.

“He came back to us and he scored two goals against Southampton and Grimsby. He is going about things the right way.”

Incredibly, Sorensen is now just five goals away from his seasonal target and could even have that in the bag before Christmas if he keeps going like this.

Dawson added: “We all know how tough it is to be a No 9 here but he is going about it the right way.”

Sorensen’s late departure in the game at Grimsby at least resulted in a chance for summer signing Yannick Toure.

Toure is now starting to get his chance for the under-21s and under-23s after arriving from BSC Young Boys in the summer.

Dawson said: “They were trying to press high and we wanted to get some pace behind.

“We wanted to bring Yannick on to provide more pace and get in behind and stretch them.

“We could have played through them if they had stayed high.

“It would have relieved pressure and got us into their half.”