PDP Lead Coach Chris Brown spoke to iFollow ahead of the Youth Team’s fixture at Port Vale.
Brown’s side were beaten 4-0 at Vale in the EFL Youth Alliance Cup two weeks ago, and he is hoping for a response from his side on Saturday.
“I wasn’t happy about the performance. We were very naïve about how we went about the game. Our defending wasn’t the best. On the ball we were okay, but we lacked that quality and end product in the final third.
“We had a young team – we had a thirteen-year-old playing in net, two under-16’s, and a majority of first years as well. It was a massive learning curve for them, especially the younger lads.
“Hopefully we get a good response. We want to play with more conviction and aggression, and a more competitive edge. I’m really looking forward to seeing how we’ve improved. The way the lads have been training since that match has been much better and more positive.
“That result should motivate them to do better. We need to go and show what we’re actually made of, because some of the players we’ve got in the team are absolutely excellent, we just didn’t really show that on the day.
“Hopefully it was a bit of a wakeup call for them to go and perform. They should have the fire in their bellies to go and show what they can do.”
You can watch the full interview on iFollow.