Interim academy manager Pete Wild was happy with the way his young Latics side bounced back after an impressive 5-0 win over Chesterfield U18s on Saturday.
A double from Ryan Scholes-Beard and further goals from Andy Hackett, Livesy Mason and Declan Baldwin secured the three points for the youth team.
Wild was impressed with the way his side imposed themselves on Saturday.
“The lads played excellently, we worked all week on being braver in possession and playing forward.” He said.
“The most pleasing thing as a coach is the patterns of play we worked on in training on the Friday came out in the game Saturday.
“It's actually more pleasing than the result, because you work all week on it and for the lads to put that training into action makes it all the better.”
Wild was disappointed with his side last week after the defeat to Lincoln City U18s, but his emotions were completely the opposite after seeing a reaction from the academy players.
“We got a reaction out of them, one thing I am is that I'm honest and I was honest with the players after last week.” He commented.
“I knew we were better than last week, but we looked at things on the training ground to put it right and the lads did that.
“Some of the goals we scored were excellent, coming right from the goalkeeper through the team to score.
“Out of possession we worked hard to close players down and stop them playing, so overall it was pleasing.”
Fans were encouraged to go down to Chapel Road and watch the young Latics side before the first team’s game with Stevenage in the afternoon.
Another vital learning curve for the young players will be dealing with playing in front of crowds and Wild was thankful for the support on Saturday.
“It was a good experience for everyone overall since there were 30/40 more people there watching.
“I think it's important we showcase our young players and the fans know who they are if they do come into the first team.
“They'll see them at the youth team level and have some knowledge of who they are or what they can bring to the first team.
“For the lads, the more people that come the better for them because then the pressure is on to perform in front of people.
“I'd like to thank those who made the effort to come down and see us, so hopefully we can get some more down before the end of the season.”
Next up for the youth team is a game against Rotherham United U18s down on Chapel Road on Saturday, March 16 (11am).