AFC Bournemouth
Interim development squad coach Bruce Suraci labelled his side’s 3-0 defeat to Derby County a “difficult night” but felt there were still positives to take.
The Cherries youngsters travelled to the midlands on Monday evening for their fourth Premier League Cup group stage fixture.
Goals from Darren Robinson, Lennon Wheeldon and Dajaune Brown for the Rams on the night ensured the points remained in Derbyshire.
Reflecting on the cup clash, Suraci told afcb.co.uk: “It was definitely a difficult night playing against an older Derby side.
“The two key sticking points for us were firstly, when we were in possession, trying to have more rotational movement to unlock a defence.
“Sometimes we struggled to transition the ball from the middle to the final third and then when we were in the final third, we struggled to create opportunities.
“The other one is backing up the press. A few times we tried to get a press on, so fair play to the lads, but we got picked off not backing it up.
“As a result, we got cut through and that created a few problems for us.”
Despite the difficulties his side faced at Derby’s Moor Farm Training Centre, the interim coach felt there were plenty of positive attributes on show from his players.
“You look at Ben Greenwood and Dominic Sadi,” he said. “Both of those lads have been involved with the first team recently and came here tonight egoless.
“They’ve come and they’ve worked really hard for us, so they’re two of the boys to highlight.
“You can look at Billy Terrell in goal because he was excellent playing out under high pressure and picking lots of different passes.
“Daniel Adu-Adjei, an under-18 who was isolated up front and he had to feed off scraps a little bit, but he worked really hard and linked well at times.
“Lewis Brown, too, his work rate was fantastic, his energy was brilliant and lastly, Tarik Gidaree, he’s come back after a long injury and brought energy to the team.
“He tried to bring us up the pitch, play forwards and looked lively when he was on the ball, so there are still a lot of positives for us to take.”
Defeat to the Rams is now followed by a double-header against Queens Park Rangers with qualification from Group B to the knockout stages still in the Cherries’ hands.
The away fixture at Hanwell Town’s Powerday Stadium comes first ahead of the final group game at Vitality Stadium.
Supporters are able to attend that fixture with more information here, and Suraci feels fan support could prove invaluable for the development squad.
He explained: “I said this against Brighton, you look at the environment that was created by the supporters and the energy and pressure that creates for our players.
“The lads want to get through and we want them to get through, so that energy can give us the boost we need to go that extra mile.”
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