Petty: Stay Level Headed

- City were unable to overcome the title contenders from west London at St George's Park on Friday afternoon

- The Development Squad assistant manager expects his players to work hard in training to improve results

- Chelsea prevailed thanks to Mukhtar Ali's brace, a Darnell Johnson own goal and a late effort by Dominic Solanke

The west London outfit left St George’s Park on Friday afternoon with the spoils courtesy of a brace from Mukhtar Ali, Darnell Johnson’s own goal and an added-time effort by Dominic Solanke. 

But Petty insists the shoots of recovery were there in the second half with City going close to scoring with a host of late opportunities against an experienced outfit in Burton-upon-Trent. 

“It’s been a tough week for the lads, a tough week for all of us,” he told LCFC TV. “That’s all part and parcel of developing young players, it’s a tough world out there. 

“Chelsea were a tough side and, again, we need to learn from today. We’ve just talked about the qualities of Chelsea, not just technically, but how hard they worked off the ball.

“They defended very well. Over the last week Steve [Beaglehole] and I have been disappointed with how we’ve defended. We have prided ourselves on being hard to beat and we’ve let ourselves down. 

“As coaches we need to get back to basics and the players need to get back to working really hard and defending that goal better.” 

Petty pointed to the talent available to his Chelsea counterparts and says his players will be better for the experience of having tested themselves against their latest opponents. 

He added: “They’ve got a very strong side, a big squad of players and they’ve invested a lot of money in their players. We’ve got some good players as well. 

“We’ve got lads who have been in and around the first-team and Harvey [Barnes] has played for them this year so we need to stay level headed and take stock. 

“We’re at a bit of a low point but we’ll get better.”