Following the Development Squad’s unfortunate loss to Hull, coach Neil Thompson was keen to pick the positives from a demanding contest against the league leaders.
Thompson explained following the fixture at Middlewood Road: "The lads put a good shift in, because they've had to. It was a tough game.
"Hull City are a decent team. It was a proper football match - the players were out there to compete.
"First half, we did not get close enough to them. In the second half, we looked a lot better and probably had the best chances.
"But we conceded the goals at critical moments in the last 20 minutes."
He continued: "There was not much between them all, but we fell short. So I am a bit disappointed but it was a good game.
"We had a few younger players on there in the end and it was a good education for them."
The contest served as the Under-23s’ second defeat on the trot, having lost 1-0 against Crewe prior last time out. And Thompson reasoned his side needs to reignite their ruthless streak to get the campaign back on track.
He said: "The bottom line is we need to be better at both ends of the pitch.
"We played some good football at Crewe, but didn't score any goals. It was the same thing against Hull.
"It's not that we are not creating chances because that would be cause for concern. We just need to rediscover that ruthless edge to put the ball in the back of the net and at the other end, it’s imperative that you keep that clean sheet.”