Youth boss Eric Kinder spoke to us about the Youth Alliance Cup defeat to Preston North End:

"The game was played in horrendous conditions with a very strong wind. Having said that, it was the same for them. Both teams coped better when the wind was against them, so it was strange in that way, and we still managed to play some decent football.

They came with a different side to the one that we played in the league game because they had three lads away on international duty. I have to be honest though and say that they were ahead of us for the whole game.

I have no complaints at all with the end result.

The pleasing thing for me is that the lads worked hard. If we'd had a bit of composure in front of goal we might have stretched them a bit further but, as it was, they just edged it.

It was a good reaction to the way that Preston had beaten us earlier in the season, but it is still disappointing to lose so early in this competition.

Preston and Burnley are the biggest clubs in this competition and Preston have done well. I have a lot of respect for Jamie Hoyland and his staff and they have produced a very strong side. It's the best group of players that I have seen them pull together and there won't be many sides to match them.

It was a very even second half and I thought it could have gone either way, but we were a goal down at half time and that gave them a lift. We hadn't played particularly well, so we had a few words about that.

We did pick it up after the break but they scored the second goal and that effectively killed it off.

We were lucky to be awarded a penalty. I am honest enough to say that I didn't think it was a penalty at all, but we will have a few go against us this season, so you have to accept it.

Ryan Bowman put that away and made it an interesting last five minutes or so, but we couldn't get the ball forward and into good areas enough.

We started off playing 4-3-3 because we wanted to pen their full backs in, but we had a very strong wind behind us. We changed that quickly to 4-4-2 and we seemed to cope with that a bit better. 

The real positive for us from it all is that we put up a much stronger fight. We're disappointed because it's a cup competition that we want to do well in. Unlike the FA Youth Cup, it's one you target to go on a run in, because the bigger Academy sides aren't involved. We've got to the quarter final in the last couple of seasons but it wasn't to be this time.

I still need more from this group of players. The first years aren't settling and it is going to be a tough season for them. We should see them come into some kind of shape around Christmas time, but it will be frustrating for us all until that happens."

United - Gillespie, Wood, Cleary, Richards-Everton, Swinglehurst, Law, Davison, Bonner (Towler 83), Sloan (Reid 66), Osmond (O'Brien 73), Bowman. Subs - Ball, Cahill.