The AFC Bournemouth under-18s ended their four-day training camp at St. George's Park with a 3-1 loss to Burnley in their first pre-season friendly.

The AFC Bournemouth under-18s ended their four-day training camp at St. George's Park with a 3-1 loss to Burnley in their first pre-season friendly.

First-year striker Euan Pollock scored the goal for the Cherries, with manager Alan Connell telling afcb.co.uk about the match, which ended an intense trip to England's training base.

The camp was an important step for the newly-introduced players, with half of the squad incoming first-year players, joining the second years who were in the group as younger players last season.

Connell explained: "In the game we mixed the team up, so everyone had 45 minutes, mixing the 11s up so there were first and second years, looking for that blend and integration.

"We began the game well, Burnley were aggressive in the tackle while our play was quite mixed, which I expected, though we put some really nice moves together without finishing them off.

"We gave the ball away sometimes which can happen with the demands we put on the players when on the ball.

"We went 2-0 down and then made ten changes at half time. In the second half we did okay and made some chances which we again didn't take.

"We battled well and scored the goal in the end. The boys kept going and I was quite happy the way we played and with what we've got in the group, looking at what we'll be good at and the areas we need to focus on in the season to come.

"It was a mixed bag, some real positives and then other things we'll need to work on, tidy up on and the messages we need to hammer home to the lads.

"That's the job and that's the process, and obviously we're now only two weeks into the process. It's exciting for us as staff and hopefully exciting for the players as well."