FA gives Notley time to reform

Jay Notley has been given three months to rescue his career after the Football Association yesterday deferred sentence for his triple drugs offence.

The 18-year-old Charlton midfield player admitted taking cannabis, cocaine and Ecstasy at a party the weekend before a mobile testing unit caught him out at the club's training ground on 4 November.

Last season two more experienced players, Roger Stanislaus and Craig Whitington, were banned for a year and six months respectively for serious drugs offences. Yesterday, however, the FA disciplinary commission took Notley's age into account and treated him kindly, deferring sentence for three months while he undergoes rehabilitation and counselling. He will not be allowed to play during that time.

Charlton's manager, Alan Curbishley, said after the two and a half hour hearing at Lancaster Gate: "I think it's a very sensible decision."