Rovers’ U18s boss Gary McSheffrey believes his sides 5-3 defeat at Thorne Colliery was a good challenge for his young team.
Despite goals from a trialist, Jak Whiting and Jack Raper our U18s were beaten by a strong Thorne side.
He said: “It was a really good challenge for the lads as it’s the reality of football. A lot of the Thorne players have been in our lads’ shoes before with scholarships at Rovers and surrounding clubs.
“Tonight was really beneficial for the lads because it was a challenge for them physically.
“A portion of our lads have just left school, so we have to have a reality check of where we are. They are fit boys who can run all day, but strength-wise a lot of them need to fill out.”
The 38-year-old saw a lot of positives from the game but is eager to work on improving elements of the game he was not happy with.
He added: “At 2-2 we were comfortable, and we scored three really good goals. They are the kind of patterns we work on in training.
“If I’m nit-picking, I feel we could have been better in possession. The three goals came from our three best moves, but I would like to see a lot more of them entries into our box in the final third. We were too sloppy on the ball with our first touch and passes.
“It was good for their character and development more than anything today.”