Owls Under-21 coach Lee Bullen says that Monday’s 3-1 defeat to Coventry was a bittersweet experience.
While Bullen was disappointed to lose the game at the Nuneaton Stadium, he was pleased with aspects of the performance, and in particular the contributions of the senior players in the team.
Strike duo Chris O’Grady and Chris Maguire featured in the Midlands, together with goalkeeper Adam Davies, who excelled between the sticks.
Bullen said: “Adam Davies was our brightest spark. All the game, he played tremendously well. He kept us in it for long spells.
“It was great for Chris Maguire to get 90 minutes under the belt and Chris O’Grady was like a battering ram up front for us.
“Not everything went for them but they deserved credit for showing the right attitude and going about their business in the right way.”
In the bigger picture, Bullen rued the result and conceded that City were the better side on the day.
He added: “It was disappointing. We deserved to lose the game. Coventry were the better team overall.
“I think the overriding factor was that they had a lot more players with first team experience. Even in their younger boys, you could see they’d had first team experience.
“I think that our second half performance was good, however. They stood up to a lot having had a man sent off and they showed a lot of guts to pull it back to 2-1.
“But a bit of naivety in the last five minutes and a minute later, they score and its 3-1.”
The Owls’ Under-21s are next in action on Saturday 9 February against Leicester at Middlewood Road (11.00am).