The Huddersfield Town Academy under-18 side was on the wrong end of a four goal defeat at Norwich City in the FA Premier Academy League this weekend, but manager Graham Mitchell had reason to be encouraged by his team's performance.
Town created a good number of chances throughout the course of the game. First year striker Warrick Charlton had two one-on-one opportunities saved by the Canaries goalkeeper, whereas midfielder Matt Crooks should have done better with a header from a corner later in the game.
However, some individual errors from Town's young team cost them dearly in the end - with Norwich showing a clinical edge to put the Terriers to the sword.
Huddersfield Town Academy Manager Mitchell (pictured) commented:
"There were definite positives to take from this game and we have to keep in mind just how comparatively young our under-18 side is this season.
"Whereas Norwich fielded a couple of professionals as overage players, we only had three second year scholars on the pitch during the 90 minutes - the rest of the team consisted purely of first year scholars.
"Patience is the key; the likes of Jack Hunt, Liam Ridehalgh and Jimmy Spencer were all in similar situations with the youth team over the last two or three seasons and all three have now made their Football league debuts.
"By their very nature, young players will make mistakes and a mixture of individual errors gave Norwich the result last weekend. The encouraging thing from my point of view is that over the entire game, we more than matched Norwich in general play."
Defender James Burke picked up a knock to the hip during the first-half and had to be substituted; at the moment, it is unclear whether or not he will be fit in time for this weekend's game at home to Manchester United.
Town's Team (4-3-3):
Lloyd Allinson; Greg Pearson, Dominic Dickinson, Harrison Blakey, James Burke (Israel Johnson 37); Jordan Sinnott, Matt Crooks, Adam Colton (James Nanje-Ngoe 46); Shane Birtles, Warrick Charlton, Michael McCaffery
Unused Subs: Jordan Porter, Josh Windass, Aidan D'Arcy
