SAM Rose praised the Burton Albion 18s for their resilience, as a youthful Brewers side were beaten 1-0 by a late Rotherham United goal.
Burton lined-up with a team consisting of first-year-scholars and under 16s players, against a Millers side which had vastly more experience in comparison who have not lost in the Youth Alliance all season.
The young Brewers held firm in defence for 87 minutes before the hosts struck to win the game, and Rose believes that, while everyone involved is disappointed by the result, the experience will help the player in the overall development.
“It was an encouraging performance. It is fair to say that we set-up to defend, first and foremost, to try and keep a clean sheet and look to score from a break or a little bit of quality around the box, or a set piece. For 87 minutes, we defended our half of the pitch tremendously.
“To put it into context, it is all about giving players opportunities to play games and improve, we don’t like losing football matches and we never accept losing them, but we want the lads to keep moving forward, whether we win and enjoy winning or lose and don’t, we are working hard to help these players develop as are the players themselves.”