Birchall reacts to Premier League Cup defeat | Interview | News

Adam Birchall said there were positives to take from the performance in Saturday’s U18 Premier League Cup game against Crystal Palace.

Goals from Jesse Derry and Zack Henry succumbed us to a 2-0 loss at Sobha Realty Training Centre, but Adam was pleased with what he saw from us in terms of our control during certain periods of the match.

Nevertheless, he was disappointed with the result, which saw us fall to second in Group G.

“I’ve got a lot of frustrated players who knew it was a game that they could’ve won today,” he said. “I was pleased with the amount of chances we created so the next part is to be putting them in the back of the net.

“It’s very important that the lads know that winning is important. Part of your development is learning how to win. Looking at us and Palace today, I’d say Palace didn’t have the control that we had in the game, but they were more mature in how they managed the situations.

“Everything we do in training is about cultivating a winning mentality. You may lose games but the lads were fantastic in certain situations today.

“What’s important for me is how we play next week with the intention of winning the game. If I’m completely outcome-based, then I don’t take care of the process and help the lads get better. I want to see an improved performance again next week.”