Eric Kinder spoke to us about the away defeat at Manchester City:
"It was a strange opening five minutes or so, because we hit the woodwork twice, and then they scored.
We then hit the bar, and they scored again, so it could easily have been 2-2 with the game having only just kicked off.
We have to give credit to Manchester City. They are a vibrant football club at the moment, and there is a good feeling there from top to bottom. They are capitalising on that with some big wins at all levels.
On a smaller scale it is a bit like the result that a very young Arsenal side got in the Carling Cup. The younger players have come in for City in this one and done a job, so you can't fault them for that.
City have two Reserve sides, and I don't know what the average age was of the side that met us, but it won't have been much older than 18.
When you play against a side like that, and even more so when it is at a club that is riding the crest of a wave, then you have to match their enthusiasm and their desire before you do anything else. You have to use your experience to help you take a hold of the game, but we didn't get ourselves off the ground in the first half.
Unfortunately, despite their young age, they were still very good football players, and that's why we got ourselves in trouble. We were 4-0 down by half time and the game was over for us.
There was no point in ranting and raving during the break, because what was done was done, but I told them to make sure that they salvaged something from it by winning the second half. Credit to them, they did that, so at least there is something positive to take from it all.
We have to hold our hands up and admit that we were very poor, especially in the first half, and we just never got to grips with their movement in any way.
All of the goals were very poor from a defensive point of view, and I wouldn't even blame that on the back four and the keeper, because we didn't defend in any area of the pitch. That made it harder for the whole team to perform.
By the time we scored our first goal we were 5-0 down, but it was a good move. Jeff Smith went on a run down the right, then he cut in and put the ball to the back post. Connor Tinnion was there to put that one away.
Grant Smith got our second almost on the stroke of full time when he headed a Connor Tinnion corner in to the back of the net. It was only a small consolation for us though.
Andy Cook got on and should have scored with his first touch. The keeper spilled it, and he tried to volley it instead of going for it with his head, and that meant that the chance was gone. He shouldn't worry about it too much, though, as he is in a rich run of form, and I'm sure he'll be back and scoring on Saturday.
It's the kind of result that nobody enjoys, but we have to learn from the mistakes we made and build on the work that we did in the second half.
I took all of the Youth team down to watch it, because I knew that City would play well. I wanted them to see the kind of football that I want them to play. They saw some good stuff from Manchester City, and hopefully they'll have taken something from it."
United - Howarth, Mahen, Aldred, Gowling, Campion (Duffy 53), Myrie-Williams (Tinnion 59), Joyce, G Smith, J Smith, Madine (Cook 74), Bridges. Subs - Mitchell, Blake.
Att - 216
