MIDDLESBROUGH UNDER-21s manager Paul Stephenson praised his young side and said that they’ve “done brilliantly” despite exiting this year’s Checkatrade Trophy, writes Andrew Gate.

On the back of a 3-1 loss to Walsall in their first group game, Boro suffered a 2-0 defeat at League Two side Port Vale last night, meaning there is no way they can qualify for the next round of fixtures.

However, with a number of key players missing through international commitments and a squad with an average age of 18, Stephenson said that he is proud of his side after they came up against stronger and more experienced opponents.

Stephenson said: "I think considering the age group of the lads and that there’s quite a few playing at this level for the first time, I think they’ve done an unbelievable job in all honesty.

"I’m still disappointed with the goals and I’ve said that to them because I think they’re defendable, but overall I can only be very proud of their desire and their effort.

"They don’t get many opportunities to play this sort of physical football in academy football, but when you play against men it really tests you both mentally and physically, so I thought they’ve done brilliantly."

He added: "We’re very disappointed that we can’t qualify for the next round of the Checkatrade Trophy but, again, the competition is a tool we as a club use to try and progress our players and give them that experience of playing against senior players.

"Normally, without the loss of quite a few of our more senior players at the moment, we would be a little bit stronger, but I couldn’t fault the efforts of the lads. So many of them stepped up for the first time and I think they’ve been young men.

"Playing under the lights, it’s a totally different experience for them and they’ve responded really well."

Despite being knocked out of the competition, the group stage isn’t over just yet. Burton Albion await the youngsters in the final group game, and although it may be a dead rubber on paper, Stephenson has said that he and the team are looking forward to it.

He said: "I think we’ve put in a really good performance for the football club and hopefully the players can progress and learn from this.

"The Burton game may be a dead rubber in that we can’t qualify, but it’s another great game for us, a great challenge and we’re looking forward to it already."