'There were lots of positives'

Steve Gatting spoke to Arsenal.com after Arsenal Under-21s were beaten 3-2 by Liverpool at Anfield on Monday evening.

on the game…
I thought there were lots of positives. It was disappointing to lose but I said to the boys afterwards that they came out of the game with a lot of credit. We were excellent on the ball at times, especially in the second half. If our end product had been better, we might have won the game.

on an open second half…
There were a lot of chances. It was a very open game. Both teams tried to play football and attack.

on the character displayed by the team…
The pleasing part was that we played some really good football and created several very good chances through good football. We had a young side. I think we had five under-17s playing and an under-16 too, against a very experienced Liverpool side at Anfield. The boys came out of the game with a lot of credit.

on playing at Anfield…
It's a great experience for the boys. It took us 20 minutes to get into the game. I think we started very slowly but as the game wore on we grew in stature.

on Zelalem's debut…
He came out of it with a lot of credit. He's only 16 and that was the first game he's played for the Club at a competitive level, and what a place to make your debut! He came out of it well. He shows for the ball a lot. He's got a bit of presence on the pitch and he passed it well.

on positives ahead of the Wolves game…
We've got lots of positives to take. We just want to keep it going. The boys are disappointed they lost but we are pleased with some of the performances.