Barnsley U23s Head Coach Martin Devaney insisted there were plenty of positives to take from the 2-0 defeat to Cardiff City.
As has been the case on several occasions this season, the young Reds came up against a side littered with first team players.
Despite seeing his side leave Wales empty-handed, Devaney described the experience of facing senior Bluebirds as valuable.
“It’s so valuable for the younger boys,” he said.
“They get an understanding of the levels they’ve got to get to and how they’ve got to concentrate in training and work hard.
“Any given moment that they switch off, they will get punished and that’s probably what has happened. All in all, it’s a good experience for them and there’s a lot of positives to take from the game.”
It could be argued that the scoreline flattered the hosts, who did not enjoy a wealth of opportunities and were out of possession for large portions of the game.
“The performance was really, really good,” Devaney continued.
“I thought in possession, we dominated long spells of the game and some really good football came out.
“We challenged the players, Cardiff had some experienced players, that’s a good test for our younger players and I thought they dealt with it really well.
“They’ve had one chance in the first half and scored, and I think it was the same story in the second half. It was James Collins that scored and that just shows you what we’re playing against. In terms of the defenders, our young defenders, it was a great challenge for them, a good experience for them, and one that everyone will have enjoyed.”
He did, however, call on his players to improve in the final third after they failed to get the better of Cardiff goalkeeper Dillon Phillips.
“We played some really good football, we pressed very well, we were very well organised,” Devaney explained.
“It’s just those fine details ultimately, in the final third. I spoke about at the end that we have to be a little bit better in terms of our creating in the final third.
“Can we have a little bit more guile? Can we have a little bit more disguise in that last pass? Other than that, it was very, very good.”
