SHAUN Cooper is not concerned that new face Dominic Sadi is getting ahead of himself, despite his quick rise through the ranks since joining Cherries in May.

18-year-old Sadi travelled with Scott Parker’s first team to Portugal, highlighting just how highly rated he is by those at Cherries.

He came off the bench to feature in Cherries’ final training match with Braga, before returning to England and linking back up with the under-23s.

With Sadi already training with the first-team just two months after his arrival, some may feel that it is a case of managing his expectations after a rapid rise.

That is not the case for Cooper, who told the Daily Echo: “I don’t think we need to manage his expectations.

“He’s a grounded and hungry young man. I picked up on that straight away. I met his family when he signed and he’s from a good family. He won’t get carried away with what’s happened so far.

“He’s well aware of the journey that’s ahead of him and what he needs to do and what needs to happen for him to fulfil his potential. Managing his expectations won’t be an issue.”

Sadi, who was spotted whilst playing in non-league with Wingate & Finchley following his release from West Ham, has all the right mental attributes according to Cooper, with the development squad head coach backing him to be a “late bloomer”.

“We liked him as soon as we saw him,” Cooper mentioned.

“He handles the ball really well in tight areas.

“Physically, there’s a lot of development to come and I think he will be a late bloomer in that department, which is a good thing for him because he’s a nice player and he’s got good ball-winning qualities.

“He made some good tackles against Wycombe and he’s got really rangy legs. If anyone around him has a loose touch, he can nick the ball off them.

“He’s a fantastic lad with a great attitude. He’s just been away with the first team and did well over there so he’s had a good start. What he needs now is game time and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him.”

Sadi featured for just under an hour against Wycombe on Friday night in a 2-0 defeat at Brockenhurst’s Grigg Lane.

Despite defeat, Cooper remained upbeat about the lessons his young side could take from the game.

He restarted: “It was a really good run-out and I thought the lads’ effort and application were spot on.

“They’ve had really good energy over the past couple of days and a real togetherness and I thought that was on display.

“The game got physical at times which was brilliant for our lads because it was a really good test and there were some mistakes to learn from.

“For the first goal, we didn’t secure well enough on the halfway line. It was our corner, they cleared it and ended up going on to score.

“We were caught out of position for the penalty and it was a bit of a panic decision which led to it. They are really good lessons for the lads at this stage of their careers.

“We had some good chances and I thought we got in some good crossing areas and put some balls into the box but didn’t quite have anyone on the end of them.

“Losing the game was harsh and I was disappointed we didn’t score a goal but the effort was there and we’re getting in the right areas. It’s early days so I’m confident they’ll come.”