Julian Darby praised the resilience of his side as the U21s equalised three times against Blackburn Rovers to avoid back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, writes Pete Oliver.
Over-age player John McAtee, Toby Ritchie and Tom King were all on target as the Whites drew 3-3 in the Premier League Cup.
Wanderers could even have won a Group A thriller at the LFA County Ground had Harry Leigh not seen his stoppage-time penalty brilliantly saved by Rovers’ keeper Jack Thompson.
But Darby was happy enough to see his team avoid only a third loss of the campaign and a second in a row after their unbeaten start in the Professional Development League was ended at Hull City last week.
“I think for the neutral, that would have been good to watch,” said the U21s’ head coach. “As under-18s we went to Blackburn last year and we were 3-0 down after 20 minutes and drew 3-3 and then won on penalties.
“I don't know, every time we play at Blackburn it's just goals and the goals tonight were excellent, every one of them. Their three goals and our three goals. I thought there was some really, really good football and it was really enjoyable.
“It was a shame we didn’t score the penalty but I’m not too bothered about that. It was a great save and I feel for Harry, because he's feeling it in there a little bit.
“But all I could say really before the game was: ‘you don't lose two games on the trot. We lost last week, just don't get beat,’ and we didn't and I thought the longer the game went on I felt that we were going to win it.”
The result leaves Wanderers bottom of Group A with two points from three games and unlikely to advance to the knock-out stages. But Darby was encouraged by another draw against a team which plays its league football at a higher level and on a night where there were also a couple of notable landmarks within the squad.
“The lads were terrific and I can't praise them enough today,” he added. “They've just put their wits against another Category One side. A few weeks ago it was Southampton who were a really good team and we were a bit disappointed to come away with a 1-1 draw and again tonight it’s Blackburn Rovers - a renowned Cat One team, which always goes well in the cup competitions and got to the semi-finals of this last year.
“It was brilliant for Harrison Rice to get back on the pitch after 15 months without putting a shirt on and Jack Mawditt played for the first time since the second game of pre-season, so we're getting lads back now.
“It was great that Tom King got his first goal for us and Joe Lamb at centre-back, I think he just turned 17 the other day and he was excellent. For a first-year scholar, playing in a game like that, he just looked comfortable so, fingers crossed, they push on from here and they can get better, a lot better.
“I'm delighted, first of all with their endeavour and their work rate and secondly, I thought, at times, there were some really good football played as well.”