Senne Lammens made only one appearance for Belgium at the World Cup, serving as back-up to Thibaut Courtois throughout the tournament before being thrust into action when the veteran goalkeeper was injured 19 minutes from the end of the quarter-final against Spain.
Despite the criticism Lammens received in Belgium for his error, confidence in the youngster at Manchester United remains strong. Goalkeeper coach Tom Heaton believes the experience will ultimately benefit the young stopper.
“It was obviously a challenging moment for him, but that’s the life of a goalkeeper,” Heaton said. “As soon as you put the gloves on and go between the sticks, you have to be ready to deal with that. He’ll be stronger for it. I think his personality is fantastic for a goalkeeper, so no issues there. I honestly think it can help him in the long run.”
Heaton also moved to dismiss any concerns that Lammens would be mentally scarred by the incident. “I highly doubt Senne will be going into it with fear or worrying about what may happen,” he said. “Senne is very strong mentally. I saw that from him as a young goalkeeper coming into Manchester United and dealing with it unbelievably well.”
Lammens is currently on a three-week break before returning to pre-season training, meaning he should be back in the first week of August and, in theory, available for the Gothenburg encounter with Paris St-Germain on 8 August.
Image credit: BBC Sport / BBC Sport
