Northampton Town U18s manager Jon Brady says there have been some good individual performances in the first two EFL Youth Alliance League matches.
His team have played two games so far, drawing 0-0 at home to Peterborough United a fortnight ago before losing 1-0 away to MK Dons last week.
Brady said, "Although the results haven’t been great, there have been some standout performances.
"We’ve only conceded one goal in two games, so defensively we’re looking stronger.
"On the flip side we need to be a lot better offensively, and we’ll work on that over the next couple of weeks.
"We started our pre-season far later than everyone else and we’ve had lots of illness and injuries to contend with, so we’ve had to give opportunities to younger players.
"This has highlighted how crucial the development of the youngsters is."
The U18s were due to host Cambridge United on Saturday morning, but the fixture was postponed.