Tony Philliskirk has backed his young side after they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sheffield United on Monday night.

Athletic's youngsters had the measure of their Academy opponents for long spells, but just couldn't conjure up a goal despite numerous chances.

That meant Grant Roberts' goal just before the break proved enough for the relieved visitors to bag a Fourth Round tie against Charlton Athletic.

"Obviously I'm disappointed not to have gone through, but I certainly wasn't disappointed with the performance," youth team coach Philliskirk told Latics World.

"Sheffield United have been considered one of the better Academy teams over the past couple of years, but on the night we were certainly the better side.

"With a bit more luck we could have gone through, but we paid the price for missed chances.

"They had two real shots of note and scored with one of them, whereas we missed five or six opportunities.  So I'm disappointed in that respect, but not with the performance overall.

"We've now played three games on Boundary Park this season and won two of them.  This may sound silly, but this was the best performance of the three.

"But sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve, and this was one of those instances."

And Philliskirk is hoping his side can take heart from their performance and kick on in the bread-and-butter Puma Youth Alliance.

Athletic's youngsters currently sit seventh in the North West Conference with 22 points from 17 outings.

"I'm sure this performance will help us in the League," he said.  "It's been well-known that I've played young sides this year -- I think the team that played Sheffield United was the oldest this season.

"If we can take that level of performance, desire and attitude into the league then our season will improve greatly.

"We're only around six points off the top of the league with four straight home games coming up, so if we can win those we'll find ourselves right in the shake-up.

"I've said many times before it's not all about winning, but we're showing signs of our level of performance getting better week in week out."