Lee Carsley thought his side were punished for missed opportunities as they let a half-time lead slip to draw 1-1 with Charlton Athletic in the Under-21 Professional Development League Two South on Tuesday afternoon.
On a glorious warm, sunny afternoon in South East London The Bees took command of the match in the first-half but only had a Zain Westbrooke goal to show for their dominance.
The Addicks hit back early in the second-half and then proceeded to create the better of the chances as the game wore on.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Lee was full of praise for his side’s first-half showing but felt they didn’t reach those same heights after the break.
Lee felt his side ran out of energy a bit in the second-half something which he was disappointed with.
“I think today was a tale of two halves really,” said Lee.
“The first-half we were very good.
“I was pleased with the way that we pressed and passed the ball.
“We opened them up in some really good positions but it was just us failing to finish teams off.
“We spoke at half-time about missing so many chances and hoped that it wouldn’t come back and disappoint us but it did.
“Going in at 1-0 up and having missed four or five good chances to extend the lead you always know there is going to be a reaction.
“I expected Charlton to play a lot better second-half and they did.
“They went a lot more direct and put us under a lot more pressure.
“To concede the goal was disappointing.
“It was boiling today so the tempo of the game really did slow down and that probably suited them more than it suited us.
“The lads should be fit enough to cope with it.
“We train at that intensity every day so I expected them to be able to keep it up for at least 80 minutes.
“I can understand if they are falling off it in the last ten minutes but we had hit our maximum after an hour.”
As has been the case in recent weeks it was a very young Brentford side that took to the pitch with four Under-18s starting the match alongside Under-17 Kyjuon Marsh-Brown.
Two more Under-17s were introduced from the bench in the second-half with Under-15 Giancarlo Poveda also coming on to make his debut.
For Lee it was a real positive to get more competitive minutes under the belt of his younger players to help them bridge the gap between Under-18 and Under-21 football.
“We have ended up with basically a team of scholars on the pitch,” said Lee.
“We had a 15 year old playing and that is a good sign for the Academy.
“If we had won 4-0 today we wouldn’t be any better or worse than we are now.
“The main thing is that the players that we have and that we really want to come through are progressing in the right direction.
“The ultimate aim is that these boys will look like first-team footballers.
“It is fair to say that there is quite a big gap between the Under-18s and the Under-21s and an even bigger gap between the Under-21s and the First-Team.
“We want to get as many through as we can.”
The Under-21s finish their Under-21 Professional Development League Two South campaign on Friday when they host Charlton at Jersey Road.
Ahead of the summer break Lee is looking for a positive performance from his charges to give them confidence going into the summer break.
“I don’t think that we have got anything to fear from Charlton on Friday,” said Lee.
“We need to rest and make sure to we are ready for it.
“Friday’s game is the last game of the season so that is the one that you think about the most when you go into the summer.
“It is important that we win our last game.
“The boys have come a long way so it is important that we finish on a high.”