Norwich City development boss David Wright is hoping his young players can take the harsh lessons delivered in their 6-0 thrashing to MK Dons to further their development.
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The Canaries youth side crashed out of the EFL Trophy to Russell Martin’s MK side who were ruthless in the second half and exposed the inexperience on show in yellow and green.
Despite the defeat and the inevitable disappointment of exiting the competition, Wright is hopeful City’s budding stars of the future will utilise experience in a positive fashion.
“It’s a great experience for them and it’s a shame our journey has come to an end and the way it has done but I think we need to go away and take the positives from it,” Wright said. “Even some of the negatives, we need to really learn from it and turn them into positives in the next bit (of their development).
“When we started tiring in that second-half, that’s when senior pros really punish you. That’s when you give them a yard and they cut inside and put the ball in the top corner. That’s the difference at professional level.
“You look at the end of the game, we brought Jonathan (Rowe), Abu (Kamara) and Tony Springett on. They’re young boys. You look on the pitch as well, they looked like young boys. The kit is too big for them and all of a sudden they’re playing against a man who is 6ft 1 and has played 300 league games.”
Jonathan Rowe’s snapshot on 86-minutes was the only one City produced all evening. Wright was without two of his crucial players in Tyrese Omotoye and Andrew Omobamidele. City’s U23s boss admitted the side was effectively made up of U19 players.
Bali Mumba and Josh Martin have also featured at earlier stages of the competition. Wright reflects on the experience from the four games as being really positive despite the thrashing on Tuesday evening.
“The two games against Plymouth and Newport were good but even the second half against Cheltenham I thought we were good. Even the first-half was good but we never really looked like we were going to score.
“The really pleasing thing is that half-time we spoke about it and the boys were able to execute what we said to them at half-time. That’s the really pleasing thing. We go away today clear what needs to be worked on and I think the boys know it and that’s another positive we can take into their development.”
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