Spurs 4-5 Villa U18s - John's verdict

John McDermott insisted there were plenty of positives to be taken from Tuesday’s 5-4 defeat to Aston Villa in the Barclays Under-18 Premier League.

Ahead of Sunday’s play-off semi-final against Everton at Goodison Park, Academy Manager John took the opportunity to give further match exposure to several up-and-coming youngsters who will be hoping to make an impact at Under-18 level next season.

Ryan Loft, Anthony Georgiou, Cy Goddard and Chris Paul were on target while Channing Campbell-Young saw red after being adjudged to have fouled Villa striker Rushian Hepburn-Murphy as the last defender.

But in spite of the final score, John was impressed with the performances on show at the Training Centre.

“It was a very open game with lots of exciting players on both teams,” he said. “There were so many positives in the way the game was played and while I thought we were probably at fault for most of their goals where we just turned the ball over easily, there were lots and lots of plus-points and some good players on show.

“The red card was a turning point but the boys showed a lot of character to dig in and play 30 minutes with 10 men.

“There’s a lot that I can learn about the players and there’s a lot they can learn about playing with 10 men. Probably the next stage now for these players as they go into Under-18s football next year is to try and keep the quality that they showed and look to eliminate the amount of unforced errors.”