However, the head coach took plenty of encouragement from seeing his players dominate throughout the 90 minutes and continue to create openings in front of goal. A second half penalty was the difference between the two sides, in a moment Collins described as ‘dubious’ and it meant the old goal left empty-handed despite their best efforts. A busy January schedule lies ahead for the 21s and Collins says it’s an opportunity for players to impress if they’re to progress to the next development stage of their career.
On the opening 45 and the half-time message
“I thought in the first half we were a bit loose but were still slightly on top. I said to them at half-time they’ve got to be a bit more ruthless and neater with their play – if you do, you’ll win the game.
“You’ve always got to be wary of the counter-attack and the break, because they will get one or two moments.”
On dominating but not taking the chances
“They got a penalty which I felt was a bit harsh. The rest of the game, our goalie hasn’t had a shot to save.
“We’ve created a lot of chances in the second half, but then you’ve got to take your chances. If you miss chances, you’re not unlucky. You’ve got to take them.
“It’s disappointing because I felt we didn’t deserve to lose the game and we probably deserved to win the game. You have to take your chances and we didn’t.”
On the penalty decision going against his side
“I’ve been in football long enough and that sometimes happens. They’re moments in the game that happen – referees and decisions – that’s football, we have to live with that.
“Teams are always going to get one or two moments. Their moment today came from what was probably a little bit of a dubious penalty and they didn’t really have any other moments because we defended them well.
“When you concede, you’ve got to score and we didn’t score. We had some great chances – one-on-ones, drop downs in the box and their keeper kept them in the game. We have to finish it and someone has to be ruthless.”
On the attitude of the players
“The boys are working really hard. A few of the boys have gone up with the first-team which has been brilliant and these boys are the next batch, if you like. We’re trying to get them to progress as well.
“I thought we were excellent at Sunderland in midweek in a game we needed to get a result from. From minute one, we were outstanding and got what we deserved.
“We’re creating chances which is something we weren’t doing enough of earlier in the season, so that’s a bonus.”
On the January schedule
“We’ve got lots of games and there will be players going out on loan. I remember saying last year that January is a funny month because players are looking to go out on loan, but we never know who’s going to go.
“One minute you’ve got a player and the next minute he’s gone somewhere. The end of January is when it settles down, but we’ve got a lot of games in January.
“It’s a chance for the boys, if they want to get a good loan, to perform well under that pressure when the scouts are at these games.”
