The 18 year-old centre-forward tasted first team football last season, though has been missing this term as he has flitted between the U18 and U21 teams.
"I do think that has been a good thing for him on the whole," Lawrence is quoted by the Daily Mail.
"Naturally, with any player when you've had that first team exposure and then you spend a bit of time around the first team when you then have that bit where you're not around it as often, naturally that's going to have an impact on your short term, the way you see things or that bit of disappointment or frustration.
"But I think credit to Chido. What he's obviously done over this period is he's gone, “'this is the situation that I'm in. This is what I'm working towards to help take my game to the next level and then I'm going to go after it'.
"So that is the bit between now and the end of the season that he needs to continue to focus on.
"But I think he deserves some credit in terms of approaching it in that way and going after those things because, yes, you've seen players go the other way."
On being tough on Obi this season, Lawrence added: "When a coach is tough on players or they spend more time with them, it means that they really, really believe in the player, even when it can be challenging.
"Listen, we're pushing Chido, we're challenging Chido. We want him to go up levels and keep improving… He’s definitely in a good place at the moment."