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Coleman proving Klopp wrong with Woodburn selection

Cape Town - Wales manager Chris Coleman says he was correct to hand Ben Woodburn his international debut, despite Jurgen Klopp insisting he was too young.

The 17-year-old Liverpool forward scored the winner five minutes after his introduction into their World Cup qualifier against Austria, and also got an assist in the next match against Moldova.

"Jurgen felt it was a bit early for Ben but we've all got opinions, which is what is great about football," Coleman said.

"I felt that if he was in the first team for Liverpool, and he is, he scored that great debut goal at the Kop end, then he was ready.

"We weren't going to start him in both games and play him for 90 minutes. We were going to be choosy with when we use him, but he's a good young talent that's for sure."

With the international break over, Woodburn’s next chance to impress will be in Saturday’s Premier League match against Manchester City, but he has yet to feature for the Reds this season.

"It will be up to Jurgen and Ben on how far or close he is to the first team," Coleman added.

"What we've seen is that he is a very bright player and he's certainly shown enough with us again.

"He's used to working with really good defenders every day at Liverpool. But there's nothing that prepares you for a 90 minutes out there, it's completely different."

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