Gregg Abbott gave us his thoughts following the 1-1 Reserve draw with Manchester City on Wednesday night:

"It was a tight game, but I also thought it was a good game. It was their second Reserve side, and they have a lot of good, young players, and they have obviously got some quality in amongst that because they are a Premiership club. It was our chance to see how we pitch in against a set up like that. Physically I thought that we were much stronger, and maybe they had the edge on us technically, but it all evened itself out and I think that the draw was probably a fair result. Having said that, we took control in the end, so we might even have shaded it.

It took us a while to get going, and for the first 20 minutes or so it was almost as if we were playing in a friendly. After that, we sharpened up a bit and we started to get a little bit closer, started closing them down and making them work, and that brought us some joy. Johann started to get himself in to the game, because he can be a little bit hit and miss at times, but when he starts to go past people he makes them think twice, and puts them on the back foot. Like I say, after that opening 20 minutes we controlled it pretty well, all the way through to the final whistle, which we're happy about. We were maybe even unlucky that we didn't win, when you look at it overall.

I have to hold my hands up and say that I thought their goal was a very good one. There was slick passing, they had a third man running in behind and they rounded it off with a quality finish. I like to see good football, and that was an example of it. I'm not too upset with the defending for that one, because sometimes you do see good football. To be honest, you could look at every single goal that gets scored in the game, and at some point in the build up you would find a mistake. Sometimes you just have to give credit where it is due, and admit that it was a good goal.

We're pleased with Gary's goal, because he had quite a bit to do when he got that ball. The Youth team Coach is sat beside me here, so it's a good time to point out that I think the young lads learn more when they come and train with the first team, because I'm not sure they are getting as much out of it with Eric ... all joking apart, we're seeing with some of these lads that we've got a great Youth set up here, and that the work they are doing is making it easier for them to step up. Hopefully we can continue that and it'll be great for the club in the very near future.

We have been saying recently that results don't matter, it's all about performances in our Reserve games, but both myself and Eric talked about this very subject before the kick off for this one. We have decent quality in our squad, and we feel we should be doing better, so we wanted to win this one. It was a Manchester City team, and it does a club good to beat teams that come from a higher level, whatever the experience of the players they have, so we did want this one. So, I am slightly disappointed that we didn't win, but we did enough and we gave a decent team performance. Some of the individual performances were superb, as well. Kevin Gray was completely focused, and his attitude was fantastic, and the younger players can look at that and learn from it. I thought Shaun Vipond was excellent in the middle of the park, and then we had Gary, who has continued with his scoring run, and he looks a real prospect.

The real key for the younger players, of course, is that it is all about Youth development. Some clubs miss that point, especially when they look at results, because they focus on winning leagues instead of making sure that the players they have are being given the best chance possible. Hopefully the way we are doing things is going to mean that more of our Youth players get the chance to come through and feature in the first team in their own right. That's why we keep saying that we aren't too worried about the results at this level. Let's face it, clubs like ours need to do all they can to find players and bring them on, because we aren't blessed with the millions that the top flight clubs can throw at it.

Coming towards the end of the Reserve season, in to our last month in fact, I think that me and Eric can look back at having worked hard and at having enjoyed doing what we are trying to do together. I wish he'd remember his wallet for the away games every once in a while, mind, but I'm used to forking out for him now. The good thing for us, as coaches, is that I have got to work with the younger lads and he has been able to work with the senior players, so we have been able to keep in touch right across the levels of the club. I think that has been beneficial for the pair of us. We really do look at the young lads as our future, and the pleasure we will take from getting one or two of them through to play regular first team football would be immense. If we can do that, then it is going to make it all very worthwhile."

United - Howarth, Arnison, Kirkup, Gray, Krause (M Blake 46), McDermott, Vipond, Hindmarch, Johann Smith, Holmes, Madine. Subs - Bradley, Stewart, Wood, Brown.

City - Matthewson, Breen, McGivern, Williams (Tsiaklis 86), McDonald, Mee, Clayton, Kay, McDermott (Poole 72), Ball (Daly 62), Moore. Subs - Ramsey, Morris.