Beaglehole: A Character Building Experience For The Team
- Leicester City's Development Squad were beaten 3-1 by Harrogate Town in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday
- Coach Steve Beaglehole felt the physicality of their Sky Bet League 2 opponents was the difference
- He was pleased with how the youthful Foxes responded in the second half
- City return to Premier League 2 action against Manchester City at Academy Stadium on Sunday 18 October (2pm kick-off)
The hosts scored twice in the opening 20 minutes, through Jon Stead and Dan Jones, to take control of the contest, before adding a third after the break via Brendan Kiernan.
City fought back and did grab a goal late on, but fell to their first EFL Trophy defeat of the season at Keepmoat Stadium.
Beaglehole told LCFC TV after the match that the players can only learn from their mistakes and take positives from what he described as a tough test against league opposition.
"I was disappointed that we weren't at 0-0 after 15 minutes, because we split the first half into blocks of 15 minutes," he reflected.
"We know what it's like when you come to these games and I think it's important that you keep the back door shut and we didn't do that.
"We conceded early on again and then we got done on a set play, which we've always talked about at this level and we've had the physical players to deal with it, particularly last year.
"So today it was hard in as much as we've got people like Hughesy (Sam Hughes) and Darragh [O'Connor], who have the physicality, but you need more than that because they are all strong and physical.
"The only thing that was lacking was the crowd because we say in this competition there's usually a bit of hostility, so we didn't have that.
"But we play against men, senior players, usually players that are coming down off a good career. A great example tonight was Jon Stead, so it was a real test.
"In terms of their all-round development, it's great for them because they should be more physical now, the youngsters particularly, having played against someone like Stead."
City's coach felt his side grew into the game and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal in the 84th minute when Shane Flynn crossed for Thanawat Suengchitthawon to score his first in Leicester colours.
"I was much happier in the second half," he continued. "Thanawat [Suengchitthawon], who we've signed as well, scored the goal. I'm very pleased for him, he's a fantastic lad.
"I think we had more of a go second-half and I'm disappointed that we conceded because we said at half-time: 'Can we at least draw the second-half and get the next goal?'
"I was convinced that we'd get something from it. We didn't, we're a bit too open on the counter at the moment, we've got to be more solid when we're attacking.
"But it's a new team and we keep throwing one or two of the younger ones in, which is good, and the experience that they get will benefit them going forward.
"So I'm disappointed that we lost, I like to win games, but there were a lot of positives in the second-half."
Beaglehole reserved praised for their league opponents, who have made a solid start to their first season in the Football League and now sit top of the EFL Trophy group table.
"I thought Harrogate were excellent, to be fair," he added. "They really came at us early on unlike what happened at Hull and sometimes last year when we started and had teams on the back foot.
"I think it really shocked one or two of our lads even though we had prepared and said what they were like.
"They play good football, they play into areas that hurt you and get crosses in and you can see why they've been successful in getting up."