Elliott Dickman has refused to be downbeat after Sunderland under-18s suffered defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
In the young Black Cats' inaugural 2016-17 U18 Premier League match, Dickman's side were dealt a blow as they slipped to a 5-2 defeat in the West Midlands.
Michael Fowler had given the Lads an early lead as he met Jack Diamond's fine cross before two goals in quick succession turned the game on its head.
Adam Bale then leveled from range in a high-octane opening half but Dickman's young guns were unable to contain the hosts as they forced home another three goals to run out comfortable winners.
Speaking to safc.com Dickman admitted while it's a disappointing way to begin the new campaign, there were some positive signs to take forward.
"It was quite an open game with both teams wanting to create and score," he said.
"We didn't defend well, we didn't defend crosses well and as a team we have got to do better.
"In spells we played some nice stuff but we didn't create enough to do better in the game.
"We will analyse what we did well and what we didn't do well," he continued. "It's disappointing to concede five but there were plenty of positives to take out of the game.
"We fielded a young team because we have a number of players playing up in the development team and even the first-team, that's much more important for me."
