Mehmet Ali labelled his under-21s as “soldiers” after they came from behind to beat Sunderland in PL2 on Monday night.
Khayon Edwards netted twice after the break to ensure the long trip to Wearside was worth the effort, and the boss was delighted that we managed to stand up to the challenge after the hosts named a strong side with plenty of first-team experience, and watched on by their new manager Michael Beale.
“It wasn’t about the win today, it was about what our boys did in that game. I was so proud of every single one of them. The boys that travelled today were soldiers in terms of coming all this way and putting on the performance that they put on, and that's what we're about.
“For us to come all this way and play against a very strong Sunderland side with their new manager watching the game, I thought our boys are excellent. What we said to them was can their new manager be talking about our boys at the end of the game instead of theirs, and credit to our boys I think we did that.”
Despite trailing at the break, we managed to turn things around and remain unbeaten for the sixth straight game in PL2 to stay fourth in the table, in what has been a solid first half of the campaign for the under-21s. Mehmet is now hoping that some of his squad go on to impress out on loan in January, and has urged others to make the step up themselves.
Divulging his half-time message, he added: “We just said don't worry about the scoreline, keep sticking to what we believe in stick to what we do and you will get your rewards. That’s exactly what we did - we played fearless and I was really pleased with them.
“Some of the football, some of the areas we got into and some of the magic moments that we had in the final third, as well as some unbelievable defending - I thought every single one of them was brilliant tonight. I’m really proud of them.
“We've had a great half of the year, but now it's about players growing and playing men's football and then the next crop of players coming in and trying to do the same.”
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