Paul Lambert admitted his Ipswich Town were firmly second best at Brentford but believes the nature of the defeat will stand his young side in good stead.
Neal Maupay and Ollie Watkins struck both goals in the first-half at Griffin Park, but it could easily have been more as the Bees stretched the Ipswich backline time and again.
A total of six academy products took to the field at Griffin Park and, while Lambert admitted they were soundly beaten, the Town boss believes the experience will benefit them in the long run.
“We had a young team but we didn’t deserve to take anything from the game,” Lambert admitted.
“The big turning point was when Collin (Quaner) hit the post and everybody thought it was going in. That might have changed the course of the game, I don’t know.
“He did everything right. It was a great pass from Andre (Dozzell), he did everything right and chipped the goalkeeper and I thought it was in. They go up the park and scored.
“That was probably the worst 45 minutes since I’ve been at the club because we’ve been pretty consistent and have been playing well without getting the breaks.
“It’s all about development for the young players because they will take knocks, so it’s about how they come back from it.
“We can’t be too harsh on them.
“First half we didn’t do enough but Alan Judge had a good chance at 2-0 but wasn’t able to hit the target – so we knew it wasn’t our night.
“The young players will need that,” he continued.
“You can’t stress enough how much games like that will help their development with what it entails and what it involves.
“It might not feel like it at the moment but it will. They will learn from it, get better and become a really good side.
“It’s just those little finishing touches.
“We have a few experienced players missing but I have no problem with the result because we never did enough.
“We never disgraced ourselves and never capitulated against a good side, more experienced than ours.
“We never laid down and kept on going.”
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Brentford’s second came after Flynn Downes slipped in the middle of midfield and gifted possession to the hosts, but Lambert was pleased with the way the academy product recovered.
“I think Flynn Downes recovering from his slip was major for him.
“He made a mistake for the second goal but he recovered from it and kept wanting to take the ball which is big. It’s great for his development and it wasn’t his first mistake and won’t be the last.
“All credit to him, I thought he did really well.”
Cole Skuse and Gwion Edwards both dropped out the side through injury, with Lambert unsure whether they will be fit to return for Saturday’s clash with Birmingham.
“He (Skuse) had a bit of fluid in his knee from Saturday, which was getting better, and hopefully he’s ok for Saturday.
“Gwion (Edwards) I don’t know with his groin, Jon Nolan and Will Keane maybe.
“It’s all maybes at the moment. We’ll see how we are.”
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