Dave Wilkes on the weekend Blackpool game
Youth coach Dave Wilkes gave us his reaction to the away defeat against Blackpool last weekend."I have no complaints about the end result at all," he told us. "They are a really good side and I think that was their ninth victory in a row.
"We did a lot of goods things but we didn't quite have enough on the day to cause them more problems. It was a tough game and, credit to our lads, because they gave us everything."
"We don't want to look for excuses, because we were beaten by a better side, but we do have a number of key players missing at the moment," he explained. "That does make a difference and we're having to go with a much younger side at the moment. However, like I say, Blackpool fully deserved the win.
"Another good thing from the day was that heads didn't drop. We found it hard to break them down but we kept going and we kept trying to make things happen. The training sessions since that game have been about what we can do better when we come up against sides like that, and it's all part of the learning curve.
"The first years and schoolboys who are with us are getting a fantastic amount of experience. That will stand them in very good stead going forward. This is the sharp end of football for them at this level and they're under as much pressure as anyone to do things properly. That's something they have to get used to.
"Spirits are still high in the group because we have some good players in there. Things are always difficult after a couple of disappointing results but the lads are working hard and they've had some really good results this season. I'm sure we'll get back to that sooner rather than later."
"Looking back, we did actually create some decent openings in the game," he said. "Tom White hit the bar with a great shot after a good passage of play in the first half and we had a few scrambles in and around the edge of the box. Overall Blackpool had the better of the possession, though, and they did deserve to take the points."
United - Brass, Chisholm, Brough, Moyes, Dickson (Douglas 45), Scott, Hodgson, Hammell (Rudd 77), Blackburn, White, Elliott (Pearson 82). Subs - Eccles.
United face Burnley at home, kick off 11am, on Saturday morning [2 November] in their latest youth league fixture.
