Northampton Town Under 18s manager Jon Brady says his team can learn from their 2-1 defeat at home to Cambridge United in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup Southern Section Second Round on Wednesday.
Despite pushing forward and looking threatening late on, early goals in each half knocked the Cobblers youth team out of the competition.
Brady said, “We worked really hard as a unit to get back into the game.
“The keeper made a magnificent save from Jack Connor who was really unlucky.
“We put on a lot of pressure in the second half, but we couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net.
“It was about fine margins today, and that’s part of the boys’ learning.”
Vice-captain Tom Scott wore the armband for the tie and scored the Cobblers’ equaliser on the half-an-hour mark.
He said, “It was a hard, scrappy game and we worked as a team to get back into it.
“After the goal, I thought we were going to go on and win it.
“The chances came, but we just didn’t take them.”
The young Cobblers are at home in the EFL Youth Alliance league on Saturday, taking on Southend United who are three points off top spot with two games in hand.
Manager Brady added, “Southend are doing very well, so we’ve got to regroup and get ourselves ready and prepared.
“It will be another tough challenge that we’ve got to try to overcome.”