The young Sky Blues fell short this past weekend, as they suffered a 4-1 defeat to Sheffield United at The Alan Higgs Centre.
Speaking after the game manager John Dempster reflected on a disappointing result: “We certainly let ourselves down today and we haven’t been able to say that about the boys a lot this season.
“We were well below average in the first half and we’ve had a man sent off in the early parts of the second half, which gives you a mountain to climb.
“Form that moment onwards the boys gave everything but to perform like we did in the first half isn’t good enough and it’s something we will look to address on Monday when we are back in training. “
The day didn’t start great for City either as Reece Massey, went down injured after only five minutes in a collision that saw the Coventry player come off worse for wear.
After several minutes Massey was stretchered off, forcing Dempster into making a change as Alex Costa came on to replace the injured midfielder.
“It didn’t look good, he looked upset.
“Reece himself seems to think it’s serious but it Is something the medical team will have to assess now and probably get a scan as quick as we can to see what damage has been done.
“He looked in discomfort, which is never nice to see, whether that took the wind out the boy’s sails a little bit I don’t know but we’re not looking to make excuses.
“It’s not nice to see a teammate go off in pain but as a group we are a lot better than that and we need to show it in our performances.”
The afternoon got worse for City after Joe Nightingale was shown a straight red card early in the second half.
Commenting on how the decision affected his sides performance, Dempster said: “It shows how bad we were in the first half; we were better with 10 in the second.
“When we speak about bravery that’s in and out of possession, we showed none of it in the first half but showed elements of it in the second.”
It’s now back-to-back losses for the U18s and the group know they need to turn their form around.
“We will look at the levels of intensity as they need to be better. If we do that in training on Monday to Friday, then the Saturday becomes a lot easier.
“We need to show more quality on the ball and probably need to be more streetwise in certain areas because today we lacked a competitive edge. It is the most competitive industry in the world, so it is important the boys learn that.
“We need to put emphasis on the basics and making sure we get better at them, if we do the results will come.”