Horseman calls for ruthlessness after Chelsea loss

David Horseman felt we didn't do our performance justice against Chelsea on Saturday, as we lost an open game 4-1 at Meadow Park.

Despite having only two shots fewer than our London rivals, we fell to a heavy defeat as the Blues proved more the more clinical of the two sides.

"The game was decided by big moments," Horseman reflected, "I think we had plenty of chances to score.

"We didn't play with enough conviction in the final third, and when we went through one-on-one or could've had a tap-in from five or six yards, we didn't really ram it home where they did.

"I thought that was the biggest difference in the game, and then obviously, once we go behind, you're chasing as you open up against them.

"They were ruthless with the chances they got, and unfortunately, today, we weren't with the ones we got, and it punished us in the end."

While the game didn't go to plan, Horseman felt that, overall, our start to the season has been positive.

In fact, our under-21s head coach saw plenty that he liked from his side on Saturday, especially in the way we created our abundance of chances.

"There were some really good moments today. We're a new, developing group, so we understand we'll get better.

"It hurts today, because we want to beat them and we had enough chances to probably get something out of the game, but we've had a positive start.

"There's loads we've got to get better at, when we get big chances, and we're creating more this year, we have to take them, we've still got to be far more aggressive, if you look at our first team they win so many duels.

"But the score in the end runs away with us, and it looks probably not a fair reflection in the game. Although they did deserve to win, for us to create as much as we did against a team like that, I think that should hold us in good stead for the rest of the season."

One of the challenges Horseman has faced with our under-21s this season has been the wide range of ages in the squad.

From second year scholars to players with Premier League experience, our Premier League 2 group has a bit of everything.

"That's the beauty of being a big club." Horseman said, admitting he enjoys the challenge.

"I was away with the Youth League team until Wednesday, so I haven't seen Jaden [Dixon], [James] Scanlon or Evan [Mooney] all week until yesterday.

"Then obviously half the group were training with the under-19s, and then they come back together. So that's why I think we'll get better and better as [the season] goes on, and we're showing really early signs of being quite a good team actually.

"Then the final bit is connecting them, because of the age range and the experience range. We have some that have played in the Premier League, to some that actually this is their fourth game in PL2.

"What they expect, what they demand of each other is really different. So at the moment, those connections are developing. They're getting better, but there's still a long way to go."