Youth team defender Jack Armer was disappointed by Preston North End U18s’ 2-1 home defeat to Accrington Stanley’s youth side on Saturday.
The young Lilywhites dominated possession in the encounter but found themselves two goals behind nonetheless, with Ethan Walker’s late effort not enough to get something out of the game.
Armer refused to blame some difficult conditions for the result, although admitting it forced PNE to adapt their playing style, but felt the Lilywhites shouldn’t have been trailing at the break.
“They scored just before half-time and when we went in at half-time, we were wondering how we were 1-0 down really,” the 17-year-old told PNE.com. “We didn’t have too many shots but all the possession was in their half in the first-half.
“They got another break in the second-half, played it through us and took their chance. Later on in the second-half, we had plenty of good chances, we also had two offside goals and their ‘keeper made a good save at the end.
“We had more chances but we didn’t take them. Their ‘keeper made a couple of good saves but we probably should have scored more than the one we got.
“The pitch wasn’t the best, so we had to go long quite a lot of times and there wasn’t much football played when you’re trying to scoop it up. There was a lot of long balls played and both teams have to deal with that.
“We’re more of a passing team and we like to play through teams, but the conditions are the same for both teams so we have to change and deal with that.”
Aside from the result, there has been plenty of reason for individual pride for Armer in the last couple of days.
He was named in the latest Scotland U17 international squad on Friday and captained the youth team for the first time in the Accrington defeat.
“It’s a good feeling [to be captain] and hopefully I’ll get to do that more often. It’s great to lead the team out and try to talk to everyone and help them so we can try to get a positive result.
“It gives you quite a big confidence boost because there are other people that are higher up than you, but it’s obviously great to be the captain.
“With Scotland, we’re going to Spain and playing against them as well as France and Poland, so that’s three good games.
“We played Poland six months ago and won on penalties after drawing 2-2.. There will be some good games to test ourselves and we can play more football out there which should help me technically."