Cambridge United defender Liam Bennett ‘really unfortunate’ to be subbed off at half-time against Wrexham and Huddersfield Town

Cambridge United head coach Garry Monk has described Liam Bennett as ‘really unfortunate’ after he was substituted at half-time for the second League One fixture in a row on Friday night.

The right-sided defender came off at the break during the 2-2 draw at Wrexham on 14 December, with Monk commenting after the final whistle that he opted to bring on Zeno Ibsen Rossi for tactical reasons.

And Bennett also only played the first 45 minutes of the 4-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town.

Sullay Kaikai took his place with the scoreline 3-0 in favour of the visitors, but Monk has insisted that there is ‘no blame’ attributed to the 23-year-old.

“He was really unfortunate because to be fair, tonight any of them could have come off in that first half. He was the unlucky one,” said Monk.

“I said to them at half-time, sometimes you’ve just got to make a decision and in that moment the idea was that we knew we were going to take risks and go after it.

“We tried to keep four, what you would call defenders, on the pitch to try to deal with spaces we left because we were going for it. It nearly paid off at the start (of the second half) if we’d taken those chances.

“Those are the decisions you have to make and it wasn’t anything to do with any blame on him at all. Any of them could have come off the pitch tonight and you’ve got to make decisions – that’s the one I made.”

Bennett, who is out of contract in the summer, has made 24 appearances in all competitions this season.