Paul Tait is proud of his Under-21 side despite them falling to a 4-2 defeat away to Lincoln City in the EFL Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday night.
It proved to be a highly competitive contest with the League One outfit as both sides battled hard for a place in the quarter-finals.
The home team led 1-0 at the break, however, two moments of brilliance from Francis Okoronkwo and Tom Cannon early in the second half fired the young Blues into a 2-1 lead.
Lincoln rallied though and managed to score three unanswered goals to seal progression into the next round at the expense of Tait’s team.
“We’re gutted to lose because we almost had one foot in the quarter-finals,” Tait told evertontv at full-time.
“I’m gutted for the lads, but satisfied and proud at the way they played, particularly in the second half.
“In the first half we lacked a bit of belief, gave them too much respect, but in the second half we played with no fear.
“The shackles were off, there was more creativity and we got two great goals thanks to quality from Tom and Frankie,” he continued.
The young Blues turned the game on its head with two goals inside the opening five minutes of the second half, and Tait felt that conceding an equaliser so soon after this frantic period perhaps cost his team the win.
“We just weren't in the lead long enough, it goes 2-1 and it’s like ‘right stay in the game’, maybe go a bit more defensive, or perhaps we can go and nick another goal,” he explained.
“But then the referee gives a penalty which I thought was a very harsh decision.
“Then after that, we’ve just lost our shape a little bit. We have brought a couple of lads on, we are a little bit out of shape in the back four, we get done with a flick on and give the third goal away.”
This unyielding Under-21s group have shown it’s not in their nature to lie down though and Tait’s side reacted well to the setback, mounting pressure on the Lincoln defence and creating some big opportunities to draw level late on.
“After the goal, it was all about us, we were creating chances, Stan (Mills) had a great driving run, and I thought we should have had a penalty as well following the challenge on Mackenzie (Hunt). So that was really disappointing,” Tait admitted.
“These are a team challenging for the play-offs in League One, unbeaten at home all season, and our lads have just gone toe-to-toe with them, especially in the second half and they deserve real credit.”
Tait was also keen to heap praise on Okoronkwo who arrived into the game as a half-time substitute and was quick to make his mark.
“That’s what the substitutions are for, to come on and make an impact, and he has certainly done that, so good for him.”
There was also praise for the positive impact other second half arrivals like Ishe Samuels-Smith, Luke Butterfield and Liam Higgins had on the game.
“As a team in that second half, including the lads who come on, it was a real combined effort, they had that bit between their teeth."
Tait added: “They are an honest bunch of kids who fight for everything and you could see that tonight, they were desperately unlucky not to go through.”
