Reaction to the Wigan away game
Youth coach Dave Wilkes spoke to us about the 3-2 away defeat at Wigan at the weekend.
“We played some good football but first half defensive frailties cost us badly,” he said. “The real positive from the day was that it was a spirited second half and we could actually have taken something from it in the end.
“Having said that, when you’ve conceded three goals in the first half then it’s always going to be difficult. The lads are just as disappointed as anyone because they know the goals they’re conceding at the moment could be avoided. We’re giving things away far too cheaply and it’s something we do need to address.”
“The really disappointing aspect is that we’ve seen a really good second half display but ultimately it’s been for nothing. The lads aren’t crumbling completely and they do work hard for each other and, when you have that, it gives you something to work with. The goals we’re conceding seem to be the same types of error and mistakes in the build up and it’s frustrating to see.”
“Another plus point for the group is that they haven’t let it affect their confidence,” he continued. “We can see that in the way they came out for the second half, having conceded the three goals, and in the way they keep notching goals of their own. We built up a really good head of steam, particularly after our second goal, but we perhaps weren’t as creative or as clever as we needed to be to take that next step.
“It is individual errors that are costing us and we’ll keep going over that during the week to try to get it out of our game. We do seem to have plenty of goals in the team but the issue at the moment is that we are shipping a lot as well. I’m sure that makes for good viewing but we are making life difficult for ourselves.
“It’s not an excuse but we had to change things around when Lewis Brass went out on loan on Friday. James Scott picked up an injury and that meant we have to adjust things right through the defensive area. Things took a while to settle but you have to be able to cope with things like this in football. We’ll keep going though and we’ll treat every game as a learning curve.”
United – Eccles, Moyes, Marshall, White (Douglas 80), Dickson, Chisholm, Hodgson, Hammell, Blackburn, Elliott, Brough. Subs - Fowler, Bradbury, Pearson.
Next up for the young Blues is a trip to Morecambe on Saturday, kick off 11am, for the second round of the Youth Alliance Cup.
“We have the cup game this weekend and that gives the lads something different to focus on,” Wilkes said. “It’s a competition they did well in last season and I’m sure they want the same again. Hopefully we’ll have Conor [Thomson] back, if he comes through training unscathed, so that adds to the options and numbers.
“We’ll try and tidy a few things up this week and I know they’ll be up and ready for the game come the weekend. Like I say, hopefully they’ll get us through to the next round.”
