Newport County boss Hayden Mullins has praised teenage debutant Rocco Lenney following Tuesday's night's 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

The 17-year-old, who is not a central midfielder by trade, started in the middle of the park before being replaced at half-time.

"He's done himself no harm. He's a really good kid, works hard, and he's got good quality at times," Mullins said.

"I thought he did well at times. He should be proud of himself and proud of his debut."

County, who are recovering from an injury crisis, opted not to start the midfielders who helped them to a 4-1 win over Chesterfield in League Two, as Ciaran Brennan, Harrison Biggins and Matt Smith appeared from the bench.

Lenney instead started alongside summer signing Aaron Lewis, who could only muster 45 minutes in his first game since returning from injury.

"He [Lewis] got through it well, which was really good, but we were always planning on getting him off at half-time," Mullins added.

"We wanted to try and change things at half-time, we put Smith and Brennan on which gave us some more experience in midfield, which they did help with."

The Exiles will look to avoid a second cup exit in a week as they welcome Walsall on Saturday, 7 November in the first round of the FA Cup.