Neill Collins won't 'beat up' his young Barnsley side despite a 'harsh lesson' at Bradford City - plus his message to supporters

A much-changed Reds side, which featured three full debutants in Vimal Yoganathan, Aaron Atkinson and Charlie Hickingbottom, struggled to cope with an experienced and strong City line-up – with their troubles particularly acute defensively.

It was the toughest of nights for young centre-half Jack Shepherd especially, compounded by his late dismissal for a professional foul.

Collins, whose side were already guaranteed a place in the knock-out stages – but who have missed out on earning a home draw – commented: “We were through to the next round and we’ve used first-team players who needed minutes in the past two games and we did the same here.

"But we also gave opportunities to young players at the club and it’s a big part of what the club is about, in terms of producing young players. We had three full debuts.

"It ended up being a tough evening and Bradford played an extremely strong side. We thought they might do, but it was maybe stronger than we expected.

"But that’s an element of respect. There were a lot of tough learning experiences for a very, very young team.

"When you back at it, it was direct play which we didn’t deal with it. It was relatively simple goals.

"But then you look at the likes of Jack Shepherd and the big step-up he has made and Charlie Hickingbottom, playing as a centre-back on his debut against quality players.

"So I am not going to beat the lads up. We had a really young team and two or three senior players in there. But it was a very young side who got a harsh lesson in terms of what the Football League is about.

"That was a pretty strong side we faced. We still expect to stand up and deal with it better, but that’s part of the learning curve.

"We have four players away on international duty and a big week up coming up ahead with a game on Saturday against Lincoln and the following Tuesday against Wycombe and having already qualified, we felt it was a good opportunity to give the young players a chance.

"But when you have a lot of young players together and you are bumping into an experienced, physical side, it can be difficult.

"Sometimes, they can rise to the occasion. At other times, they have to got through that painful lesson. As a young centre-back, I went through plenty of them. It’s about how you learn from it and can you come back in the future and show in the future that you know how to deal with it and I am sure they will."

It proved a forgettable night for the 604 Barnsley fans who made the short trek to West Yorkshire and Collins says that he hopes that there is an element of understanding and perspective at the result.

He added: "When you bring the fans we brought and when you play for Barnsley in any competition, we don’t want to lose five goals and the way we did.

"But I have also got to recognise they are young players and I am sure the fans understand it.

"The young players are learning and we want to get them in the first-team at some point in the future, so that means trying to bedding them in.

"We always expect to do better than they did, first of all four our fans. We felt we could put a team out to win the game, but it wasn’t to be.”