BURTON Albion's Professional Development Phase lead coach Keith Gilroy believes his side struggled to create chances, as they fell to their first defeat of the season at the hands of Mansfield Town.
The young Brewers had recorded six wins from six in the league but an Alfie King goal from a corner was enough to give the Stags a 1-0 victory at St. George's park.
After the game, Gilroy discussed his side’s attacking performance. “I don’t think we created a lot of clear-cut chances, but we built quite well to get into the final third, some crosses and linkup play but I thought we were a bit sloppy in the final third.
“In the first-half I thought after the first ten minutes we were really good, we controlled play really well and we probably needed to be a bit better in the final third" he said.
It was a set piece goal early in the second half that gave Mansfield the win, but Burton struggled to get back into the game afterwards.
“It felt like we were chasing the game rather than getting back to what we’re good at, trying to control the game, building from the back and that was disappointing. We didn’t re-gain any control which was probably the most disappointing thing because the players are good players, they listen well.”
Despite the defeat, forward Kai Svark was able to threaten the Mansfield defence and create chances for his side.
“Kai picked up good positions, pockets of space to create, and was sharp around the box.”
“He’s trained really well this week, he’s had little niggles with injury, but because he trained well, he was in the team.”
The Young Brewers take on Port Vale on Wednesday in the first round of the FA Youth Cup, Gilroy spoke about the importance of this competition for his players: “It’s amazing, it’s something we speak about, it’s such a prestigious youth competition that most of the staff have played in.
"It’s a big game for the players, and it’s something that they want to look forward to and really take in leading up to it because they’ll be playing at a ground in front of fans, it’s a good opportunity to bounce back from a game like today.”