No first team action this weekend, but the U18s have two home games on Tuesday and Friday at Cormack Park against Kilmarnock and Hibernian.

It has been a tough test for Barry Robson’s side this season. Already one of the younger squads going into the 2021/22 Club Academy Scotland U18 League campaign, then the likes of Evan Towler and Ryan Duncan were put out on loan to help with their development, which has lowered the average age of the team even further.

Players have been promoted from the U16s and from even further down the Youth Academy. Finlay Marshall, Kai Watson, Cameron Wilson, Alfie Stewart and Taylor Mason are just a few of the boys who had the chance to experience action for the 18s in recent months ahead of schedule along with Alfie Bavidge who has been a regular this season.

There have been some very encouraging performances though and on Friday they beat Hearts 2-1 in Edinburgh to highlight the good work that has been going on.

Barry Robson spoke to afc.co.uk after the game:

“On Friday against Hearts we were up against a team who were older than us. I am saying that same thing after most games. I was really pleased with the way they hung in there and fought. We also tried to play the better football. We are trying to pass it, we are trying to move it.

“At this stage of the season a few of the boys are looking tired which is understandable with the amount of games we are having to play at the moment to get the season finished. It has been a very long campaign for the ones who are in full-time, on the back of not playing many games at all the season before.

“Some though are growing and putting in good performances and that is why we have done this, playing so many younger players and trying to bring them through quicker.

“Alfie Stewart gets the first goal against Hearts and he is certainly one that is growing into it. Physicality he is still lacking a little bit but that will come with age.

“Adam Emslie has put in a tremendous shift this season, he has hardly missed a game. He was also away with the Scotland U17s. Despite that, in the last two games he has got his name on the scoresheet with two good finishes.”

Learning

“It was frustrating to lose the goal due to a VAR decision because we did not look like losing a goal in the game which was very pleasing. Defensively we have struggled a bit this season with players having to learn the game and game awareness. But they are learning and that is encouraging to see.

“It has been a difficult season for the boys at the back, they have had to learn the hard way. We have asked them to play in a different way and at times it has been hard. And they have lost a lot of goals. When that happens it is difficult and your confidence goes, but you still need to be brave and still need to do the right things. They are trying to do that. We need to keep more cleansheets and next season I have no doubt we will.

“We are not going to change the way that we want to play. We are not going to sit in and play in a negative style. We won’t do that. We will teach them the real hard way of playing. They have been stung with it at times, but they are learning.

“We have lost a few games in recent weeks but we have been in there fighting to the end and that is the most pleasing thing for me. We are going to struggle to win games at the moment but what I say to the players is, make sure that you are in there fighting, continue to show your quality and play the right way. They really have done that against older and more experienced players even although they have not always been getting the results.

“It is the only way for them to learn. We are here to make them better.

Balance

“There is no point in playing older players down levels. We would rather play younger ones up a level.

“But I need to be careful as well. We had 14-year-old Victor Enem come off the bench against Hearts. He did very well, he is a good kid. It is ok playing young players but we can’t really put them in too young. We are probably at the limit of how young we can play them. And you have to be careful that it is not too much for them because it can be, especially against some of the stronger sides this season.

“We are trying to get the balance right each week”

Character

“The game was played on a difficult pitch at the Oriam but I said to them, come January, February, March in the SPFL Premiership, sometimes it is going to be difficult with the conditions.

“You might also have five players out and the game is not going your way. How do win the game?

“The pitch is not greatest, your top players are missing and your style is not there. You are trying to play a certain way, but the opposition are stopping you and the wind and the rain is coming at you.

“That is when your characters show up, that is when your real players show up. They show some bite and produce that extra bit of quality needed to win a football match when everything is not going for you. They showed that against Hearts.

“This second half of the season is learning how to do that. The quality and style will come, but they are learning how to play games the hard way at the moment.

“It will be a very different story next season for this team.”