A first minute goal from Manchester United's John Cofie proved to be the deciding factor when Wolves Academy under 18s met The Reds at their Carrington training ground on Saturday.

The Molineux youngsters fought their way back into the game but couldn't find an equaliser that would have given them a share of the spoils - the least their efforts merited.

Coach Mick Halsall said: "We started the match very slowly conceding in the first minute through some poor understanding within our back four.

"It took us a while to get into our stride but when we started to play I felt the remainder of the first half was pretty even.

"But after the break it was a different matter as we forced the issue more, with some good possession that led to us creating good chances.

"United were always a threat on the counter but we coped with that very well.

"We put good quality balls into their box but the end result wasn't there. This is a part of our game that we have to improve on as, in the last two fixtures, we have created several good chances but have not been able to score any goals.

"We will continue to work on this in our training and I will be emphasising to the forwards that they have to make certain runs when the ball is in wide areas instead of standing behind defending players.

"But all in all, after that early setback, I felt we did okay and we certainly deserved something from the game. If we had been a little more clinical in front of goal, then we would have done."