Jon De Souza said Brentford’s Youth Team were not at their best as they drew 1-1 away at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday to complete their Under-18 Professional Development League Two South league matches.
The hosts took a first-half lead as Mason Duffy slotted home at the second time of asking and it looked like that would prove to be the decisive goal as Brentford struggled to find a way through a resilient Wednesday back-line.
However The Bees’ pressure did eventually tell as Chris Mepham’s deep cross was touched home at the back post by Audrius Laucys in the third minute of injury time.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Jon praised his side’s character for sticking at it right to the end but felt that Saturday’s game was a missed opportunity to gain another three points.
“Overall Saturday was probably two points lost,” said Jon.
“We went to Sheffield and prepared properly, staying overnight.
“We needed to win and we expected to win too with the quality of players in that group.
“We started ok but I think we played with too slow a tempo, didn’t play forwards enough and didn’t get enough forward runs which meant we didn’t effect Sheffield Wednesday enough.
“When they went 1-0 up they dropped off and that made it even harder for us to play forwards and get in behind.
“I think we lacked the quality and the tempo to really affect them.
“We ended up having to use our own footballs because they were using one ball and slowing the game down.
“I am glad that they did it because they realistically had nothing to play for but it was good for our players to see that the other team wanted to win.
“We did everything we could to get back into the game and the one thing that I can’t fault the players for in the second-half was that they had a go and we got ourselves back into the game right at the end.
“We weren’t at our best by any means but at least we got something out of the game.”
The draw extended Brentford’s unbeaten run to 11 matches as they head into the end of season Play-Offs.
While The Bees have finished their league campaign second-placed Charlton Athletic sit four points behind Jon De Souza’s side with two games, against Swansea City on Wednesday and Crystal Palace this Saturday, left to play.
Brentford drew their last two league matches of the season to allow Charlton a sniff at taking the title but Jon believes those last two draws may help just to refocus Brentford minds after winning eight of the previous nine beforehand.
“It is a real plus that we are now unbeaten for 11 games,” said Jon.
“We still have a chance of winning the league depending on what Charlton Athletic do this week.
“If we had won the last two and won 11 in a row we might have gone into the Play-Offs with a little bit of complacency.
“These two games have showed us that we aren’t unbeatable and we can’t just roll teams over week in week out.
“It will help refocus the players even though I don’t necessarily think they were getting complacent.”
The first Play-Off Semi-Final will be played the weekend of April 24th.
Should The Bees win the South section of the league they will be at home to the team that finished second in the North section while should The Addicks pip them to the league title they will be away to the North section winners.
With two weeks until the next match many of the Youth Team players will be involved with the Development Squad in their final two games this week, both coincidentally against Charlton Athletic.
Jon said it will be good for the players’ development to get more Under-21 time before they come together as a Youth Team group next week to prepare for the Play-Offs.
“A lot of the boys will be involved in the Under-21s this afternoon and on Friday and I will organise a friendly on Saturday for those boys who aren’t involved,” said Jon.
“Next week we will be training together as a group very much to get ready for the Play-Off, whoever we play.
“It is great to have these games to get used to first-team football.
“Our first-team probably need two or three wins to make the Play-Offs and it is great for our boys to get used to playing must win matches.
“The boys need to keep doing what they have done well in the league season which is to perform well on a regular basis and deliver the philosophy that we want them to play to win football matches.”
With the league campaign now at an end Jon said he has been very happy with the way that the season has gone both in terms of results and player development.
The Youth Team manager believes that while good teams are a positive things having good individuals is the most important thing.
Jon has been impressed by the performances of the younger players stepping up and thinks that bodes well for the Youth Team moving forward.
“We can’t complain with the way that the players have played this season,” said Jon.
“We have had a lot of players play up with the Under-21s and we have had a lot of players progress which is the main thing.
“We are in the top two as well which we can be happy with and we have the Play-Offs to look forward to.
“A lot of those players were acting like senior players before they went up in terms of talking and leading on the pitch.
“Playing up has helped them but I wouldn’t say there is a massive difference.
“I have been pleased with the way the younger players have played.
“We had two Under-16s playing on Saturday and an Under-15 played a few weeks ago.
“I am pleased with the younger players coming up and I think our Youth Team next year will be a good Youth Team as well.
“As much as we want good teams it is about the individuals coming through the system and we have got some good individuals coming through the system who are progressing nicely and that is the most important thing.”