Northampton Town Under 18s coach Shane Goddard was pleased with his side’s performance after they drew 0-0 at home to Cambridge United in the EFL Youth Alliance League South East on Saturday.
Both sides created opportunities in an end-to-end first half, but neither were able to break the deadlock in a scrappy second period.
Speaking after the draw, Goddard said: “I’m pleased with the performance and I think it shows the journey we’ve been on in the last five or six games.
“The boys have worked hard in the week and taken on the information we’ve given them.
“We had a good structure and shape which made us hard to break down and beat, but we can always make improvements.
“We didn’t create enough clear-cut opportunities today, but it shows how far we’ve come that we’ve drawn with Cambridge, who are unbeaten, and we’re disappointed we haven’t won.”
The youth team host Southend United on Saturday, who the young Cobblers knocked out of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup a fortnight ago.
Goddard added: “We’re coming off the back of a good performance against Southend and we’re on a nice run.
“We’ve got the foundations in place so we want to be more expansive and creative.
“It was only a few weeks ago that we were looking at performances and saying we need to be better so we’ve really improved.
“We want to win games but all I can ask of the boys is that they learn and improve.
“They’re a really good group and they want to improve week in, week out.”