A young Liverpool Reserves side found it tough going as they lost 4-1 at Peterborough United in a friendly encounter at London Road on Saturday afternoon.
Gerardo Bruna was on target for Gary Ablett's side and the League One side were worthy winners.
Despite the heavy defeat Ablett still felt there were positives to take from the game.
"We struggled physically at times against an experienced team but it's all part of the learning curve for the young players," Ablett told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"We could learn different things about our players and you can see how they cope in a different environment.
"To be fair we did pass the ball nicely at times but we gave away four **** goals from our point of view down to sloppy defending.
"With Peter Gulacsi and Dean Bouzanis away in the UEFA Under-19 Championships and David Martin with the first team in Switzerland we had two Academy goalkeepers with us. Chris Oldfield made some outstanding saves in the first half before had to go off at half-time.
"Hakan Duyan who is only 16 came on for Chris in the second half and he did really well. He showed he can cope at this level.
"I thought Gary Mackay-Steven did very well at left back and Nathan Eccleston showed some good touches up front. He is a young player with ability and we will look at him more as the season goes on."
Liverpool Reserves: Chris Oldfield (Hakan Duyan 45), Martin Kelly, Gary Mackay-Steven, David Kellerman (Ronald Huth 45), Godwin Antwi, Steven Irwin, Ryan Crowther (Jordy Brouwer 45), Ryan Flynn, Craig Lindfield, Nathan Eccleston (Zsolt Poloskei 45), Gerardo Bruna (Alex Kacaniklic 68).
Gerardo Bruna was on target for Gary Ablett's side and the League One side were worthy winners.
Despite the heavy defeat Ablett still felt there were positives to take from the game.
"We struggled physically at times against an experienced team but it's all part of the learning curve for the young players," Ablett told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"We could learn different things about our players and you can see how they cope in a different environment.
"To be fair we did pass the ball nicely at times but we gave away four **** goals from our point of view down to sloppy defending.
"With Peter Gulacsi and Dean Bouzanis away in the UEFA Under-19 Championships and David Martin with the first team in Switzerland we had two Academy goalkeepers with us. Chris Oldfield made some outstanding saves in the first half before had to go off at half-time.
"Hakan Duyan who is only 16 came on for Chris in the second half and he did really well. He showed he can cope at this level.
"I thought Gary Mackay-Steven did very well at left back and Nathan Eccleston showed some good touches up front. He is a young player with ability and we will look at him more as the season goes on."
Liverpool Reserves: Chris Oldfield (Hakan Duyan 45), Martin Kelly, Gary Mackay-Steven, David Kellerman (Ronald Huth 45), Godwin Antwi, Steven Irwin, Ryan Crowther (Jordy Brouwer 45), Ryan Flynn, Craig Lindfield, Nathan Eccleston (Zsolt Poloskei 45), Gerardo Bruna (Alex Kacaniklic 68).
From the team that looked so good and won the league last season we had at least the following missing.
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