Ruth: Vertu Trophy experience good for development

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Luke Nicoli

2025-11-06T13:00+00:00

Shannon Ruth, pictured with MU21s coach Micky Harris, was happy to give exposure to his young players in this season's Vertu Trophy.

MU21s head coach Shannon Ruth says his squad will take plenty from their Vertu Trophy experiences this season.

Albion fielded their youngest-ever side in the competition in each of their three fixtures against Barnet, Luton Town and Cambridge United with seven scholars finishing the game against the U’s on Wednesday.

The Seagulls finished bottom of their group with one point, but the players’ exposure to senior football is far more beneficial for Ruth than simply picking up the three points.

“The fact that we’ve fielded such young sides is a real bonus for us and means we’re exposing players to this level sooner than we’ve ever done before,” he said. “That might not have helped us this season in terms of results, but the group will be far better for this experience next year.

“Also, if they can take these experiences back into the U18 division or PL2 they’ll be far better for it. At this level, it’s all about exposing our players to the biggest challenges and making sure we are stretching them – which is exactly what we’ve done.”

Albion were narrowly defeated 1-0 at the Abbey Stadium, having conceded early on against a Cambridge side that boasted a wealth of Football League experience and also included former Premier League forward Elias Kachunga.

Joe Knight made his Premier League debut against Leeds United last Saturday.

“If you allow senior players to get control early and dictate tempo, it can take the young players by shock,” Ruth pointed out. “We didn’t ride that early bit of pressure but once we came out of that rough moment I thought the players relaxed, showed real belief and realised that it wasn’t going to be as bad as it might be.

“After looking at the data, we had more of the ball than them and we showed a fair bit of control against a side that has hundreds of league games under their belt.

"We didn’t have the physicality to create or to get away from the opponent – that was probably the only disappointment on the night – but in terms of showing identity and the young players trying to take the ball and show courage, I was proud of them all.”

The fixture brought to an end an unprecedented run of five consecutive away games, with such demands naturally taking its toll on such a young group of players.

“Our disappointment is that we’ve picked up three injuries in there as well,” Ruth added. “It shows the demands on these young players have been really high, with the intensity of the games and the intensity of the travel. We’ve actually been on the road for over 40 hours during this period but the group has not shied away.

“Apart from Ipswich [a 3-1 PL2 defeat], we’ve competed in every game, with the team having changed every time, and in amongst that we’ve had two first-team Premier League debuts for Joe [Knight] and Miah [Oriola] and a lot of first-team training exposure.

“So this experience will hopefully give us some good foundations and some good learning going into the rest of the season.”