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Club News

YOUTH: Played very well

26 November 2013

Club News

YOUTH: Played very well

26 November 2013

Dave Wilkes on the Wigan game

Youth team coach Dave Wilkes spoke to us following the victory over Wigan on Saturday morning. 

"It was a very pleasing performance," he said. "The lads played very well and I think we've played as well in other games and came away with nothing, so it was nice to get the result to match the performance. 

"We sustained the good play for long periods of time and we defended much better than we have done recently. Wigan are a good footballing side, and they did cause us one or two problems, but we managed to keep them at bay and we deserved the three points. 

"Patrick Brough got two goals and showed the sort of form that we know he's capable of. If he can keep playing like that I'm sure he'll be knocking on the first team door again in the not too distance future."

"The win was very important for morale because the lads knew they'd played well in other games for no reward," he continued. "They knew they had to stick with it and work hard and I'm pleased that they've got this result. The concentration levels were good, and they really worked hard for each other, which was very pleasing to see." 

"Connor Hammell made a great run in behind their defence for the first goal," he explained. "Patrick [Brough] found him with a good ball to put him through one-on-one with the keeper. He managed to put it underneath him and it was a good finish. 

"They came back into it a little bit and they grabbed an equaliser, but Patrick managed to get us another just before half time. Danny Hodgson found him with a great pass which split the defence and Patrick calmly slotted it past the keeper." 

"We created more chances than them in the second half but the game was always in the balance at 2-1," he added. "Our third goal was important and it was another great finish from Patrick. He found space on the left and smashed his shot across the penalty box into the far corner. 

"They did put us under a bit of pressure towards the end, which you'd expect, but we defended well. I was really pleased for the lads because they've been putting in a lot of hard work through the week and getting nothing at the end of it. 

"They trained really well on Thursday and Friday and you could tell that they were fed up of not getting the results the performances probably deserved. I could tell they were up for the game - you can never say that you could tell that they would get the three points - but I could definitely see they were going to give it everything they had. 

"Youth football is about developing yourself as a player, but everybody wants to win. If we can maintain the level of performance and attitude we got on Saturday, from now until the Christmas break, we should see more of those types of performances."

United: Brass, Chisholm, Marshall, White, Dixon, Scott, Hodgson, Hammell, Blackburn (Douglas 82), Elliot (Moyes 80), Brough. Subs: Eccles, Pearson, Rudd. 

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Next up for the youth team is a Wigan rematch as they travel down the M6 on Saturday morning for a rearranged fixture.

"We were due to play Wigan away at the beginning of October but it was called off," Wilkes said. "The way things have turned out it means that we play them twice in the space of two weeks. 

"It will be a completely different game to the one we had on Saturday because I am sure they will want to get a result and put right what went wrong for them up here. The looks should go into it with confidence and I have no doubt it will be another good game of football."

Wigan Athletic v United, Saturday 30 November, kick off 11am

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