Will Lankshear left clueless after falling victim to brand new EFL rule

Middlesbrough striker Will Lankshear became the first player to fall foul of the EFL’s new time-wasting rule.

The 21-year-old, who recently completed a permanent switch from Tottenham, later admitted he was unaware of the newly-implemented regulation.

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It was an eventful night for Lankshear who netted the only goal of the game in Boro’s 1-0 win over Wrexham in the Carabao Cup first round on Friday.

However, shortly afterwards he fell victim to a new rule designed to clamp down on time wasting during substitutions.

The new law states that if a player takes in excess of ten seconds to leave the pitch after his number has been shown, then his replacement will only be allowed to enter the field of play at the first stoppage after a minute has elapsed.

The rule was enforced at this summer’s World Cup and will also be applied in the Premier League this coming season.

Lankshear was replaced 20 minutes after his goalscoring heroics where he superbly netted an overhead kick winner.

But his 81st-minute exit, which included him applauding the home supporters at the Riverside Stadium, was deemed to have broken the rules.

That left his replacement Fin Cartwright waiting more than 60 seconds before being granted access to the pitch.

It briefly left Boro with a player down in their quest to reach the next round of the Carabao Cup.

Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg was seemingly aware of the rule and was seen urging his striker to quickly leave the pitch.

However, Lankshear later admitted he had no idea about the rule.

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“I didn’t know,” Lankshear said.

“I haven’t been in the referee meetings at the start of the year because I came from Tottenham.

“I now know to get off the pitch a lot quicker!”

The deal to take Lankshear to Middlesbrough could end up costing the Championship club up to £20million.

He was among a host of recent exits from the north London club with Luka Vuskovic, Tynan Thompson, Alfie Devine and Alejo Veliz all having moved on.

Middlesbrough kick off their Championship campaign at home to Lincoln next weekend.