David Longwell reflects on Town's under-18's win over Notts County in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.
Academy manager David Longwell gave his thoughts after his sides 3-0 win over Notts County on Saturday.
Town's Academy side will now advance to the next round of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup as they look to continue their unbeaten home record so far this season.
On the result and their unbeaten record in the league:
“It was another positive result for sure but we had a few players missing which made it tricky. The lads went out there and won by three - getting a clean sheet is always really positive.
“We created loads of chances and really could have scored more goals, but it's all positive stuff especially when you win”.
“We just have to keep working. We create lots of opportunities every week, and we need to get in the mindset of being more clinical. Louis Lloyd scored an unbelievable goal today and I don’t want to take anything away from that. You have to get the mindset of a young player right so they don’t miss easier chances later in games.
“Even though we won 3-0, we are still capable of scoring more goals, so we will keep working on the video stuff with them and keep trying to help them develop."
On Town's style of play:
“We changed the system with players missing. Tom Bloxham, Liam Thomas, and Louis Llyod played really well. Liam and Louis got goals today and Tom created plenty of opportunities which was good to see.
“The three of them work well together, they have a good relationship and they always are a threat to score goals but we have to keep working with them and make them better."
“We moved Ben Crompton back into that back line as he is good on the ball and we wanted those quicker switches to free the wing-backs and I thought that worked well.
“Notts came out and had a real go in the second-half so we moved back to a back four. Tom found himself in a wide area and I thought he played really well in that role particularly.
“We try not to be too tactically rigid so that when they move up to the first-team, they have a better feel for the game and they can adapt to that environment quicker."
On the academy lads getting more opportunities with the first team:
“A lot of the lads have trained with the first team; they are making the bench which is really good to see.
“The first team obviously need to win games so the manager can only put them in when he feels they are ready but we have to get them to a stage where they can actually help the first-team win games.
“The pressure and the physicality is a lot higher so we just have to prepare them for that and get them as close as possible so they are ready to take that opportunity when it comes."