Glyn Hodges was delighted with the reaction from Wimbledon's youngsters in the second-half of the Leasing.com Trophy loss at Southend.
Glyn felt that his young side did not quite perform the way he expected them to in the first-half, but he got exactly what he wanted from them after the break.
“I did not expect Southend to be that strong, but that was their first-team", said Glyn. "It was a good test for our boys and I thought they were up to the task. I was disappointed with the result, but I thought that we caused them a few problems and there were a lot of good performances.
“I did have a go at them at half-time because there were signs that they didn’t properly understand that we have a system in possession and a system out of possession. I didn’t think we did it as well in the first-half, particularly the out of possession part, but for the first two goals we also gave Southend the ball and they scored. That was careless and it’s got to stop. We didn’t press the opposition, but in the second-half I felt we did and we got a lot of joy from it. That’s the way we are going to play and if they are going to step up they need to understand. I think they showed that they got it in the end.
“It’s a proud night for Wimbledon. I said to them not to worry about the result, I was proud of them and I’m sure everyone else was. The young lads are training with us because they are good players. They are at the start of their young careers and this will do them the world of good. It was a good experience and I hope they enjoyed it because I certainly enjoyed watching them play.”
Click on the link below to watch the full interview with Glyn.