What Kim Hellberg said to Will Lankshear after freak Middlesbrough incident v Wrexham | OneFootball

Will Lankshear and Kim Hellberg were seen speaking after Middlesbrough's win over Wrexham, with the striker having failed to adapt to a new EFL rule.

Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg joked with Will Lankshear after the striker left the team down to ten men due to the time he took to come off the pitch after he was substituted.

Boro completed an eye-catching transfer for the 21-year-old from Spurs last week, in a deal that could be worth around £20m.

With Lankshear having shone on loan at Oxford last season, there was a lot of excitement surrounding his move, and the new recruit enjoyed the perfect debut for Boro, as he scored the winner in the 1-0 victory over Wrexham in the EFL Cup.

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Will Lankhear caught out by new rules in Middlesbrough’s win over Wrexham

It was a very well-taken goal by the youngster, who moved his body well before firing an acrobatic finish past Danny Ward after a smart header by Sebastian Berhalter.

However, that wasn’t the only talking point involving Lankshear on the night, as he put his teammates in a difficult position after failing to realise the new rules that were in place.

That came in the 80th minute, when Fin Cartwright was prepared to come on to replace Lankshear, but the latter took longer than ten seconds to leave the pitch.

Under the new EFL guidance, when a player takes longer than ten seconds to leave, the substitute coming on will have to wait for one minute, and they will then only be able to enter the pitch at the next break in play.

So, Lankshear’s time-wasting in leaving the field meant Cartwright could only watch on, with Boro down to ten men for that short period, which saw Wrexham control the ball as they pushed for an equaliser.

Pleasingly for all connected to the Teesside outfit, they managed to keep the Red Dragons out, and Hellberg could be seen joking with Lankshear after the game.

In footage shared by Sky on social media, Lankshear could be heard saying ‘I didn’t know’, in reference to the new rules in place.

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And, Hellberg responded, telling the striker ‘don’t say that, don’t say you didn’t know, then I get ****’, before laughing.

Middlesbrough players will learn from Will Lankshear mistake in Wrexham win

You have some sympathy for Lankshear here, as he obviously hasn’t been told about the new rules, so he understandably didn’t want to rush off the pitch with the team holding a narrow lead with ten minutes to go!

As he mentioned in his interview after the game, Lankshear has had a busy pre-season, in terms of starting with Spurs, and he missed the meeting where the new rules are told to players.

Hellberg and the coaching staff should’ve made him aware, but these things happen, and it was good to see the manager making a light-hearted comment about it at the end.

In the bigger picture, though, it’s probably good for Middlesbrough that it happened, and that it has become a talking point.

Therefore, all the players now totally understand that they must leave the pitch quickly, and there will be no excuses if it happens again - especially if it’s Lankshear.

Most would agree that the rule is a positive introduction to the game, as it will reduce time-wasting, and it will be interesting to see how often it happens again this season.