Youth team boss Eric Kinder spoke to us about the 1-0 away defeat at Tranmere:

"To lose this one was a massive disappointment for us.

Teams like Preston, Burnley and Walsall had already been knocked out of the competition, and it had opened up.

We had a great chance to do something in this one this time round, but it isn't to be.

We didn't start very well against Tranmere, and I thought that we were a bit sloppy for the first 20 minutes or so.

The goal that eventually beat us was really bad from a team point of view. We have set ways in which we take corners, and if we do go for a short corner, as we did in this case, then the players know what their responsibilities are.

For some reason we fell asleep when we took it and that left us very short at the back. They got possession and caught us with a sucker punch, and we had nobody to cover their break at all.

As I say, that lapse of concentration eventually cost us the game.

Having said that, we had a host of chances to get it back. Andy Cook hit the post in the first half, Ryan Bowman had one that drifted just wide and Jonny Blake went really close.

That carried on in to the second half with chances coming from all angles, and I felt that if we could just get the equaliser then we could have gone on to win it.

The number of chances we missed in that second half was incredible. I'm still trying to fathom out how we lost it. But, we have, so we have to move on now.

I found it very hard to criticise the lads afterwards because they never stopped trying. We had words about the way that we conceded, because that was really out of character for us, but I'm sure that they have learned a lesson from it.

It's probably only the second game that we have played in all season where we haven't scored, and we are actually averaging somewhere close to three goals a game, but again there is a lesson to be learned. It never comes easy in this game, however well you think you're playing.

At one stage we had four or five up front and two at the back, we were that desperate to score, but it did become a bit of a gamble. Credit to their goalkeeper as well, he was absolutely fantastic. He made five or six fantastic saves, and he even got presented with the Youth team player of the month award from the Football League at half time. That tells us that he's a good keeper.

It's now a case of concentrating and working hard as we get ready for the Burnley game on Saturday. If we lose to them in that game, then I don't think it will leave us with too much to do in the second half of the season, particularly if we want to win the league.

Mind you, that's for the lads. Winning things is what they are interested in. My aim, as it always has been, is to get as many of them as possible through to a professional contract.

So, yes, we are all bitterly disappointed that we lost but there is still plenty for us to aim for. We have to make sure that the progression continues and we have to build the foundations for these lads to go on and make a career out of the game.

Team: Mitchell, Lakeland, Duffy, Aldred, Cleary, Blake, Law (Sloan 79), Davison, Cook, Bowman, Tinnion.

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It's second against third at Burnley tomorrow as the United Youth team go head to head with one of their main title rivals.

The Youth lads have lost just one League game all season - a 4-2 reverse at the hands of Burnley on the opening day of the campaign. Kick off is at 11am, and we'll bring you news from the match shortly after full time.