Town boss Mick McCarthy felt the Blues’ U21s put in their best performance of the season, despite being defeated 3-0 at home by Nottingham Forest earlier this afternoon. Wilfried Gnahore, James Thorne and Andreas Karo netted the Forest goals.

“It was a bit like the first team on Saturday," McCarthy said. "I thought we were great, the first half was the best the U21s have played, I thought we were excellent.

“We could have had three or four goals. They’re a big, powerful team, Forest. They played well and when they got the goal they sat back and we were trying to force it and we got done from three corner kicks.

“I thought we were excellent. I thought Kundai Benyu played well, James Blanchfield (pictured) was very good and Kyle Hammond playing wide right.

"It was a really good performance and yet we’ve been beaten 3-0. But it’s a development squad, not a results-based squad.”

The Blues - with no senior players involved - included 17-year-old Canadian striker Dario Zanatta in their starting line-up.

Zanatta joined the Vancouver Whitecaps youth set-up in 2011 and is a Canadian U18 international.

He is now looking for a club in Europe and recently spent time on trial with Swedish side IFK Göteborg.

U21s: Crowe, Emmanuel, Wyatt, Fowler, Robinson, Hammond, Benyu, Blanchfield, Patterson (McQueen), McLoughlin, Zanatta (Ramadan). Subs: Hayes, Kenlock, C Smith.

Photo: Action Images

Smithy added 16:01 - Mar 16 think we need a new corner kick coach
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rinkydinkpanther added 16:15 - Mar 16 I'm very much one of those old-school types who believes in the result tending to dictate how well a team has done. Ah, but what do I know? Great job lads, and the first team. Keep losing. Seems to be all the rage these days.
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raycrawfordswig added 16:16 - Mar 16 Smithy you beat me to it.corner kick coach can't be that good then.
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callmeted added 16:53 - Mar 16 I like MM but sometimes the headlines don't do him any favours !!
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Bergholtblue added 17:11 - Mar 16 Goals from corners! Must be ready to make the step up to the first team.
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Seasider added 17:12 - Mar 16 Shows what a small squad we have,as this was basically a youth team. Does this mean Connolly,Henshall and Stewart are being held back for tomorrow?Probably not, as think one or at most two of those will manage the bench with perhaps a cameo appearance late in game if they are lucky;but we live in hope!
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Paulblue62 added 17:16 - Mar 16 Surely wins bread confidence. I rate Mick, but to suggest that results do not matter at this level is just ridiculous.
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blues1 added 17:32 - Mar 16 seasider. no it doesn't show we have a small squad. just shows that we were not risking ne 1st team squad players with a match coming up tomorrow. ido agree with you tho that Connolly henshall stewart unlikely to feature. but that's due to the shortsightedness and stubbornness of the manager, rather than their ability.
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Eireannach_gorm added 17:55 - Mar 16 Still no McDonnell. Maybe next year!
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kidsurello added 18:04 - Mar 16 Gamble on zanatta, what's the worst that can happen, one year scholarship, re access in a years time. Give him as many u18/u21 games as possible. Let's face we haven't got much coming through the academy in striker other than Ramadan
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blueboy1981 added 18:19 - Mar 16 MM ......... one of very few - who would be impressed by a 3-0 defeat at any level of the game.
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masetheace added 18:31 - Mar 16 blues1 - how many times have you seen the players you mention play ? Really annoys me the number of times such rubbish is posted here from people who obviously just pick names from a hat !!
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Cloddyseedbed added 19:52 - Mar 16 When I've seen Henshall and Stewart play they don't do much to get in the game, certainly nowhere near enough to get into the 1st team. Connolly I can't comment on. McCarthy seems easily impressed these days. He thought we were unlucky on Saturday to loose 4 -1 too. Can't defend at corners and can't take corners seems to be something we are consistent at. Surely the coaches need to address this. At 1st team level we haven't had a good corner taker since..............................?

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Pilgrimblue added 20:12 - Mar 16 I've seen Stweart and think he would give us more attacking options than we've seen recently. MM reluctance seems to stem from Stewart's inability to track back etc . When paired with Bish it could work well and open up defences rather than give the ball away. We should have enough players to cove rso its just MM's mind-set i guess!
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muccletonjoe added 20:51 - Mar 16 Why would results matter at this level? It is more important for these players to get a game of competitive football. The result is very secondary.
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oldegold added 22:05 - Mar 16 There was a time when we were the toast of youth football and the great Ipswich teams were built on a flourishing youth section and whilst academy soccer is marginalised nowadays, it shows how we have fallen. Under MM, youth team players are not heavily pushed ( barring Bishop and Clarke ) and admittedly nor were they under Jewell and Keane and this sad as the great Sir Bobby and George Burley always advocated players coming through the ranks.People have short memories too. Still it shows the standards MM sets when a 0-3 defeat is qualified as a success.

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Fixed_It added 23:02 - Mar 16 God some of you lot are thick! The result DOES NOT matter at that level - and it is quite possible to play well and lose to set-pieces against a team that is physically stronger. But then, some of you are just looking for any excuse to have a pop - even if in doing so you end up looking stupid!
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WorcesterBlue added 23:20 - Mar 16 Leave the kids alone. By all accounts some great talent coming through even if it is only one a season it's still significant.
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DCAB added 14:26 - Mar 23 I have been watching the 18s this year and there is some real talent breaking through. Many of the 18s are playing 21s and are developing well. Credit to the coaching staff.
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