Rovers U18s manager Chad Gribble has praised his side’s resilience as they ran out 3-1 victors against local rivals Scunthorpe United at Cantley Park.
Goals from Max Adamson, Charlie Petch and Jack Goodman ensured Rovers got the better of the Iron and in turn maintained their 100-percent win record on home turf.
The result saw Gribble’s side reclaim top spot in the EFL Youth Alliance League as they took their fifth victory of the 2022/23 season but the youth team manager felt there was room for improvement.
He said: “We were really resilient against Scunthorpe and we defended our goal really well because unfortunately the messages we gave the players at half-time didn’t quite go to plan like they did last week so we’ll look at that because the blame could be on us as staff and not the players because we work as a collective.
“Therefore the resilience the players have shown for that long in the game is a great trait for them to have at such a young age.
“I like the fact that the players are celebrating and enjoy those moments and it gives you the chance of something happening at the other end of the pitch.
“The game did end up becoming a scrappy one but it allowed us to get those couple of goals and gave us a cushion.”
With the game locked at 0-0 so late into the game, Gribble turned to Adamson among others from the bench as they came on to get goal contributions leaving the manager pleased with his reinforcements.
He added: “The substitutes have had a great impact on the game today, Adamson keeps coming off the bench to make his mark on games and my challenge to him is for him to impact games for longer when starting.
“To do that he needs to get a bit fitter, stronger and needs to keep building key moments in his game day by day but he is getting there with that so we’ve been really impressed with his attitude.
“Will Green has been out of the side for a couple of games through no fault of his own but because of good performances from others down that side.
“He’s had a great week in training and deserved to get on the pitch and he was able to show his quality with the assist.
“We’ve got a really competitive group and they’re all pushing each other for places so when they do get the opportunity to play they have to show that they want to start the next game.
“That’s the world the boys are trying to get into in terms of elite sport and it’s great that they’re showing that at the moment.”