James Collins felt his young under-21s battled well, despite defeat on the opening day of the Premier League 2 season.
Nottingham Forest took all three points on Monday night following a 2-0 win at the Loughborough University Stadium, but Collins was pleased with what he saw from a group that included three first-year and two second-year scholars. The head coach has explained that playing younger players higher up and in testing fixtures will benefit them when it comes to playing men’s football later down the line.
On playing a young team
“I thought the boys did really well. It says it's under-21 football, but we've got Luke Rawlings, who is 16, the goalkeeper 17 (Lewys Benjamin), Wes (Okoduwa) is 16 at right back, Caden Voice is a second-year scholar at left back and playing slightly out of position.
“We've got five scholars. Alfie White comes on as a 16-year-old at right-back, so I can't be disappointed. We're playing against Alex Mighten in their 11, who is 22 and a good player. He'll go on loan, and I think some of theirs are playing tonight to get a loan in the next week or two.
“When I saw the teamsheet, I knew it was going to be a really tough game. I said that to the boys. I thought the boys stood up to it really, really well - an aggressive man from man press.
“When you're a 16/17-year-old boy against a 21-year-old boy, it's difficult. And that's not an excuse, that's just the fact. I really thought the boys stood up to it very well.”
On the performance
“In the first half, I thought we could have been bit braver with the football for second half. We did that. And I thought just as the goal went in for them, that was probably our best spell we'd had in the game.
“Yes, you always want to win the games but we've got to be realistic with what team we're putting out, and when we put a team like that out, we've done that for a reason.
“We've got Luke Cundle back there, we've got Fabio Silva back there. We've got plenty of players training back there who could have played tonight, but we chose not to play them because they are ready for the next step of their journey, and we need to see what the younger boys can do.
“We showed spirit and stood up to it, but we’ve got to do a bit better with the ball. And then finally, we've got to see how they react to that.”
On giving opportunities to young players
“We've got Arsenal on Friday, then we follow up with Brighton away. And we follow that with Port Vale in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy competition.
“Most teams will be a couple of years older than us this year, so the results aren't going to be perfect. The supporters have got to understand that, the club definitely understand that and we're hoping that if we can ride the players through that storm of challenge, then they're more prepared for men's football because men's football is like that.
“It's tough, it's aggressive, it's hard, so it's a bigger picture plan, but I think we might be having a few more of these conversations this year, but we're aware of that. I thought the boys stood up to it well.
“It's exciting working with young players. The mental side of it is really, really important. They've got to be able to handle tough, tough environments, and tonight was one of them.”
