Tony Carr has paid tribute to his Under-18s after a successful season that may not culminate in winning the league but has seen plenty of positives.
A 2-0 defeat at Leicester City on Saturday allowed Arsenal to claim top spot in Group A of the Premier Academy League with a 3-0 win at Milton Keynes Dons. The Gunners are now a point in front and have three games left compared to Carr's team who end a hugely productive campaign at home to Birmingham City at Little Heath on Saturday.
"We would like to finish the season on a high against Birmingham," said Carr. "We are fighting Fulham for the runners-up spot but we have had lots of positives. We have seen three 18-year-olds break into the first team and enjoyed a real successful run of results. Maybe if we do finish runners-up, we can look back on yet another good season for the Academy."
Against Leicester, some of his younger talents like first-year scholars Oliver Lee and Daniel Kearns followed up a midweek reserve run-out and the previous weekend's 4-0 success against Reading with a third game in eight days. The academy director added: "They have had a busy week which is not ideal but it is something young players have to learn to cope with. They are still learning the game, they are first years and are getting a lot of football."
Carr believed his team could have got something out of the Leicester game but did not get the luck against a physical side who preferred the direct approach. "We felt the first goal was blatantly offside and we were a little hard done by. We had already had an effort cleared off the line, a header by Tommy Harvey. Oliver Lee also went close to scoring and Junior Stanislas had a couple of efforts that just went wide. We did quite well in the first half but we couldn't cope with their long-ball game."
Having conceded a second just before half-time, Carr was pleased with the commitment shown after the interval. "We came out fighting and had a good second half. Oliver Lee had a great chance at the far post after a Stanislas cross but he put it over rather than hit he target. Again we had two or three other half-chances but couldn't quite get the breakthrough to halt a nervy period for Leicester. Although we gave as good as we took and slightly edged it we couldn't score."