BURNLEY'S young guns hit the cup trail this weekend with a trip to Chesterfield.
Terry Pashley's side travel to Sheffield University on Saturday for the League Cup first round tie aiming to wipe out the memory of a first league defeat in four games when Wigan won 2-0 at Gawthorpe last weekend.
Once again the U19s side included a clutch of much younger players and Burnley ended the game with six 15-year-olds on the pitch following late substitutions.
League leaders Wigan were expected to win the Gawthorpe clash, but were made to sweat for the points earned through two defensive mistakes.
Rhys Carpenter came closest to earning a deserved draw for the home side when he forced a fine save from the Wigan stopper midway through the first half.
Yet with three wins and a draw still recorded from their first eight games, Pashley was convinced his youthful outfit was making great strides.
He said: "Results are of little significance at this level as it's overall improvement I am looking at.
"The Wigan game could have gone either way, ad we were playing a team that is top of the league, without a defeat and with a group of players bang on the under 19 limit.
"The side I have is much less experienced, but after eight games I can look around the side now and see improvement in every position.
"That gives me great satisfaction and in what is essentially a learning curve for the boys, it bodes well for the future."
Team: Aspin, Heywood, Trotman, Townsend, Ince, Pugh, Pitham, Avery, Preston, Taylor, Carpenter. Subs: Cayne Handley, James Quinn, Aaron Wilkinson, Dennis Greenwood.
Saturday's game against Chesterfield kicks off at 11am, with supporters welcome as usual.
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