Mike Williamson believes Carlisle United’s defeat to Wigan Athletic was a valuable learning experience for a host of young players.
The Blues featured a number of teenagers in the 2-0 defeat at Brunton Park.
Head coach Williamson said he was pleased with how the youngsters faced up to the test of character set by a superior Wigan side in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy game.
On a night when senior duo Callum Guy and Taylor Charters made welcome returns from injury, Williamson could draw positive aspects from another home defeat.
“Getting Callum Guy and Taylor Charters back on the football pitch is huge for the football club,” said the United boss.
“[It’s also positive] that we got to expose a lot of the academy lads to first team football and against a standard of opposition which is above the level that we're playing.
“So, there was a lot of learning for them and for ourselves. It was a fantastic opportunity to see them and give them that exposure.
“Ultimately, the personality and the character we had to show from going 2-0 down, and facing a very bleak evening, [was important]. I thought they showed the diligence and they stuck in there and got stronger as the game went on.”
Williamson’s first XI saw a debut for 16-year-old defender Hayden Atkinson and first starts for 17-year-old Freddie O’Donoghue and 19-year-old Anton Dudik.
Sam Hetherington, 18, was also in the XI while there were substitute debuts for 17-year-old youth team duo Dan Hopper and Seb Mason.
💙 Not the result we wanted, but it was great to end the game tonight with eight Cumbrians on the pitch. pic.twitter.com/UgWgHCuovg
— Carlisle United FC (@officialcufc) October 8, 2024
Further academy products in Gabe Breeze, Aran Fitzpatrick and Jack Ellis also featured on a night Williamson made a host of changes as he looks to protect his threadbare senior ranks.
On how his young players handled the opportunity, Williamson said: “The detail and the quality will vary and that's acceptable. But the resilience, the spirit, the honesty, the hard work [from them] was fantastic.
“When they've got that and they've got that desire to keep working regardless of how good the opposition are or how difficult things are, it's a real testament to them.
“Obviously, we were down to our bare bones in terms of the first team and we picked up quite a few little niggles at the weekend too.
“So, we just had to make sure that we were not risking anyone and the [senior players] that were involved, it was more of a calculated one. Thankfully, we got through that.”
United conceded two first-half goals and seldom looked like finding a way back against Shaun Maloney’s League One side.
Williamson, though, says the teenagers in the ranks will have learned lots from the night.
“They’re going to learn what good looks like, playing against players at the level above,” he added.
“It’s exposure. When I was a young lad and I jumped up a level and you saw the habits and how quick and sharp [the opposition players were], and especially how their brain works, it was a real shock for me.
“I kind of used that as a benchmark for myself to then think, ‘Right, how can I get to that level?’
“It’s easy after you're 2-0 down against a team that's controlling things to kind of fold and not want to show for the ball. But I saw a lot of bravery and courage, so that's going to hold them well in career.”
Williamson said the reaction of defender Atkinson to conceding an early penalty typified his point.
“He's going to be in many more positions like that, as a centre-half, somebody that wears his heart on his sleeve, gives everything, which is what you need,” he said.
“As young athletes and professionals, but especially defenders, you're going to face a lot of adversity in your career and it's ultimately how you deal with that. That's going to be the barometer of what level you can get to.
“And I thought after the start, it was an opportunity to go under and really want to be swallowed up by the ground, but he didn't. He's shown a lot of personality and I thought he got stronger and braver and he grew into the game, which was huge for him.”
Carlisle were more competitive after the break but seldom threatened Wigan’s goal as they fell to the defeat that ended their chances of progressing to the Trophy’s knockout stages.
“I thought in the first half we just struggled to get out of our half and that was the nature of the opposition and decisions from ourselves,” said Williamson.
“I thought we started the half really well and we didn't let them out, and they were finding it hard to build and get into our half.
“In the end, we’d used our subs and then we were down to ten men [after Atkinson went off injured], so obviously the game was gone at that point.
“But again, it's very, very difficult playing against a very good team. The quality that they've got, they move the ball the way they do, they've got the rotation the way they have. We struggled to get a foothold in the game for the whole night.”
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