Preston's U18s suffered a 5-1 defeat to Accrington Stanley at the Crown Ground on Saturday.
It was a much changed Preston side, with many key players rested with Wednesday's FA Youth Cup match against Norwich City in mind.
While it was a bad day at the office for the U18s, many of the Lilywhites younger players gained valuable experience of playing at a higher level.
James Boyd, Ben Greenop, Ellis Hancox and Matthew Hudson all came into the side.
Captain Tyler Forbes and Adam Robinson; who has impressed on his appearances for the U18s this season, were both on the bench.
In the opening stages, it was a hard fought contest, especially in the centre of midfield.
It was in the fifth minute when Stanley captain Liam Goulding put his side ahead, with an excellent strike which flashed across Hudson in the Preston goal.
PNE won a free kick just outside the area which Sean Holmes shot over the bar.
Shortly after, the home side caught the Lilywhites out with two quick fire goals through James Jenkins and Max Hazeldine.
While it was 3-0 to Stanley at half-time, North End came out in the second half with a positive attitude.
Robinson entered the fray at the break and he immediately began to put pressure on the Accrington defence alongside Sam Livesey.
More young players got a run out for Preston when Ben Roberts came on for Jordan Scott.
Preston continued in a positive way with James Boyd particularly impressing in the hole, attempting to make things happen for the away side.
Hudson did well to deny chances from Accrington's Hazeldine and Webb.
It was two goals in quick succession again, when on 81 minutes Bradley Roscoe was unfortunate to put the ball in the back of his own net and Dieter Downey scored from 25 yards out, which the Preston goalkeeper could do nothing about.
Sam Livesey pulled one back late on for the Lilywhites but the final score was 5-1.
Nick Harrison said post-match: “We're obviously disappointed with the result, but it was a game that gave the younger players a chance to step up and play youth team football, which should stand them in good stead for the future.
“We’re really looking forward to Wednesday [FA Youth Cup match v Norwich] it's going to be a good test and we selected a team today with Wednesday in mind, just to give one or two a breather.
“This game is out of the way now and while we're disappointed to lose, now we're looking at Wednesday which should be a fantastic tie.”
Asked about the youth's 2013 year, Harrison said: “It's been a fantastic season. I've said from day one our football is all about development and developing young players.
“Josh Brownhill is testament to that, we want to produce more Brownhill's for the first team.
“Josh has had his opportunities for the first team and is playing regular games and we're through to the third round of the FA Youth Cup.
“We want to produce more players like Josh going into the first team [looking ahead to 2014]. Whether that be this season or next, that's always the aim.
“Obviously we want to do well in the games we play as it's a good habit to get winning games.”
Accrington Stanley: Kieran Wolland, James Wolfenden, Daniel Hennigan, Liam Goulding, Luke Greaves, Roman Hickey, Jack Hartley, Dieter Downey, James Jenkins, Nathan Webb, Max Hazeldine.
Subs: Alex Tiernan, Kealan Steenson, Keenan Quansah, Nathon Hudson, Dalian Barker
Preston: Matthew Hudson, Clive Smith, Harry Hagon, Jordan Scott, Ellis Hancox, Bradley Roscoe, Lyle Magolis, Sean Holmes, Sam Livesey, James Boyd, Ben Greenop
Subs: Ross Dalton, Joshua Earl, Adam Robinson, Tyler Forbes, Ben Roberts