Mehmet Ali was pleased with the way we performed in Tuesday’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy clash at MK Dons, following on from a disappointing north London derby defeat on the weekend.
We came from behind twice to draw 2-2 at Stadium MK courtesy of goals from Andre Harriman-Annous and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji before losing 3-1 on penalties
“I’m really proud of the performance, especially after Saturday when it was a difficult game for us in the second half and we weren’t pleased with how we performed in that second half when we conceded some goals,” Mehmet said. “The response this evening was brilliant.
“The first half was a really good game. Our opponents are a hard team to play against, a League Two side, but for me they’ve got League One quality with their players, the stadium, the pitch. It’s a great place to come to and they’re very hard to break down with their structure and how they set themselves up out of possession.
“We weren’t as clean as I’d like in possession. Having said that, our organisation without the ball was really good, the way we coached each other, going a goal down and equalising twice, the ability to come back from that was great to see.
“In the second half, Josh Nichols coming on gave us some good football moments where we moved the ball from right to left and moved their structure really well. We could’ve gone on and won the game because we had more than enough opportunities in the second half. We didn’t take those and we’ve got to be better with the penalties at the end, but overall I’m really pleased with the lads and proud. They’ve got to keep building from that.
“Now it’s about composure in the final third and repetition, practicing that on the training ground. The more you do that and get into those areas, you’ve just got to be a little bit calmer, make the right decision and take care of the execution. We snatched at things and were so desperate to get that goal so it was a little bit rushed. If we were a little bit calmer we’d have got the opportunity to score, but I’m really pleased with how we got into those areas of the pitch and I thought the boys in the second half were excellent.
“The boys have got to be able to impress people in the crowd and perform on this stage to show they’re ready for men’s football against a men’s side. They’ve got to be able to play like a man in that moment even though they’re under-21s players. You’ve got to embrace the opportunity. Some of our senior lads, the way they led was really good for them and good for people to see.”
Two players involved in the match who had recently had experience with Mikel Arteta’s first-team were Myles Lewis-Skelly and Josh Nichols.
“You have to be really careful because the stimulus has to be right for them and when you get that early exposure like they’ve had, it’s been brilliant and they’ll learn loads, but then when you do come into a u21s fixture, it’s how you control your mindset to go and perform at that level,” Mehmet said. “Myles did that really well in possession and even out of possession, learning the role as a left back. I thought he was excellent.
“Josh should’ve been better on Saturday with the level he’s been playing at but his performance tonight I was really pleased with. That’s not easy to do and you need the right mindset for it and we showed that tonight.”
Our next game in the competition is away to Colchester United with all to play for, and it’s one Mehmet and the team are looking forward to.
“Getting a win and a draw puts us in a good position for the last game,” he said. “It would’ve been great if we won the penalties. That didn’t happen, so all to play for try to get a win against another senior opposition.”
