Lynn boss urges Mitchell to learn from the master

Linnets striker Kairo Mitchell has been told to learn from the best – Michael Gash. 

Mitchell scored twice on his debut, a 3-2 home defeat by Wealdstone at the end of October, but has scored just once since, finding goals and starts hard to come by. 

Part of the reason for his regular appearances on the bench is the return of Gash, who missed the early stages of the season after he recovered from a debilitating summer illness. 

Mitchell started Tuesday’s home defeat by Notts County and, despite missing a couple of good opportunities, put in a fine shift before Gash took over duties for the final half hour, denied an equaliser only by the brilliance of the visiting keeper. 

Lynn boss Ian Culverhouse admits Mitchell, 23, who came through Leicester City’s academy system, has lessons to learn. 

“He is a good boy,” said Culverhouse after Tuesday’s game. “He is really disappointed that he didn’t score tonight. 

“We are at a stage at this football club where we pick up people who are not quite right, they are missing something, and Kairo’s finishing is probably what he is missing, that lethalness in front of goal.  

“That’s why he is with us - if he scored 20-odd goals a season he wouldn’t be here. He is a hell of a talent, because he works and he wants to learn and learn – and he is only going to get better. He has got good people to work with, like Mazz (Adam Marriott), Dayle Southwell and Gashy. 

“He works really hard and that mobility helps us as well because he gets us up the field. If we put balls into the channels he will chase it down and he is a strong boy, he’s a good ‘un. 

"We had a chat not too long ago and he said, ‘what can I do?’ and I said, ‘well, you‘re not the same as Gashy but you need to know what Gashy brings to the team and how he uses his body and how it works’, and I thought he did that well today. He won us a couple of free-kicks by getting his body in the way.”