Wilkinson: We posed a real threat going forward | OneFootball

Ben Wilkinson says despite Tuesday's defeat at Rotherham his side showed some real attacking prowess.

City bowed out of the group stages following a win and two losses against Bolton Wanderers and Rotherham.

The EFL Trophy pits League One and Two sides against Academy teams from 16 Premier League clubs, with the top two in each group progressing to the knockout stage.

Despite the final score, City looked very comfortable in the first half as we scored first inside two minutes through Mahamadou Sangare, before Charlie Gray doubled our advantage.

We went on to have multiple clear-cut chances against a side who came into the match off the back of a five game unbeaten run across League One and the EFL Trophy.

Although the young Blues didn't leave with three points, Head Coach Ben Wilkinson had plenty of praise for his side's attacking ability, as we came away with 16 shots on the night.

"I thought we were a real threat. I thought we created lots of opportunities and for large periods we had good control of the ball and when we felt pressure, we managed to force a lot of regains," he said.

"Our structure in and out of possession was really pleasing, it's just the big moments in both boxes [we need to work on].

"We didn't take enough chances and I think at 2-0 we had numerous opportunities to extend our lead then the game's probably dead.

"Then we came under pressure and had to defend our own box, we weren't good enough to defend.

"[Going into the game against Leicester] there's lots of positives from tonight's performance, but I think it's more the element of how to manage the games in those moments and how to ride out a storm where we need to grow and learn from."

Wilkinson also touched on the disappointment of conceding four in the space of 15 minutes, but explained it was all part of the young Blues' development.

"These games are always a real good test for us, we were obviously really good in the first half and I think really good value for our two goal lead," he added.

"It could have potentially been more, we did a lot of good things and I thought it was really positive.

"Then the second-half we were aware of what was going to come and I thought we started it well and then we just made one bad decision in the box to give a penalty away.

"The next 15 minutes was everything that we're trying to educate the lads in terms of what the next step of their career looks like and how games can change and what's needed to survive in men's football and we struggled to deal with that in that time frame.

"So, a lot of positives, but also disappointed that we couldn't ride that storm in the second-half."