John Dempster was pleased with the performance from his Under-21s side, despite defeat against Barnsley at the Alan Higgs Centre.

City fell behind after two goals in the first half gave the Tykes the advantage, a lead which they would see out.

The Sky Blues Under-21s were impressive during the outing, but were just unable to find the breakthrough at the other end of the pitch.

Reflecting on the result...

"It was a highly contested game. Barnsley are always a physical side and you've got to deal with balls in the box and I think in the main we did quite well on that today.

"Where we fell short was second phases of a set play. Our first contacts today were good, but we weren't close enough to the resulting shot that ended up in their first goal. And then of course, we made a bit of an error, which resulted in a penalty but that was the only difference today really, I thought.

"We showed glimpses and we played a different shape today, we were a back four which was interesting to see.

"They've got some good height. They're physically bigger than us. So that was a real task, but the boys stuck at it to be fair to them from start to finish.

"It was a real game, sometimes under 21 football can be, you have it, we have it. But both sets of players were at it today. There was a good intensity. We're just a little bit disappointed. We didn't affect their goalkeeper or get balls in and around the box a bit more."

Elliot Betjemann returning from injury...

"You always know you're going to get with Elliot and he had some good little combination plays in the middle of the pitch.

"The only disappointing thing for the team was that when we progressed in and around the 18 yard box, we probably didn't get enough crosses or shots off, but Elliot had a good game considering he's been out for a short period."

Impressed with individual performances...

"Bradley Stretton showed glimpses coming off the left, but his end product needs to be better which Bradley is aware of.

"Evan showed good energy in the middle of the pitch and then he played on the left towards the end.

"MacKenzie Stretton did very well against a lad who scored in the FA Cup for Barnsley, so that was a real positive.

"I thought Callum Perry did well on the right hand side considering he is a left footed player and there were some other positives today.

"Justin had a tough afternoon up front as a lone striker against two good physical centre halves and I think there was a difference in physicality today and they looked a real threat from set plays."

Development for the Under-21s...

"We've had some good results this season, mainly when we've been a little bit older, which gives some good outcomes to the players.

"Then when the results don't quite go for you and you've got a lot of eighteens in the side it's stretching them, it's stressing them AND developing them and that's essentially our jobs."