At 21, Cardiff City’s Joel Colwill is a little young to be considered a senior figure.

But the midfielder was asked to lead the way as a youthful Cardiff side took on AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.

And despite the Bluebirds’ heavy defeat, Brian Barry-Murphy reckons one-cap Wales international Colwill emerged from the tie with credit.

“I am really pleased with Joel,” the Cardiff head coach said.

“I thought he supported the younger players really well in the most difficult moments of the game.”

In truth, Colwill may have been among the first-team regulars rested for Wimbledon had it not been for the gashed knee he suffered during Cardiff’s League One win at Northampton Town 11 days ago.

But with his team back in league action when they host Huddersfield Town this weekend, Barry-Murphy wanted Colwill to get game-time.

“He had a bad knee injury at Northampton and part of [the reason he played on Tuesday] was to get him as fit as we want him based on how important he is to us,” he added.

“It was very beneficial to get a full 90 minutes into Joel.”