Steve Chettle says Notts Under 23s will have learned a lot from their 5-3 Central League defeat to Port Vale on Wednesday.
The Magpies fielded a young side while the hosts had players with bags of senior experience, making it a challenging afternoon at Vale Park.
But Chettle feels the players performed well and will have learned a lot from the clash.
“We were pleased with the industry and work ethic of the team,” he explained.
“We had a young squad against an experienced Port Vale side and we have got a lot out of the game.
“We did well to score three goals and could have potentially drawn or even won the match if we cut out a couple of little mistakes.”
Sam Osborne, who scored twice, and Remaye Campbell, who netted from the penalty spot, were among the players who Chettle singled out for praise.
“There are positives for everyone today,” he added. “It’s great experience for the youth players who were here on Saturday against their Under 18s and then today against senior players.
“Kieran Cummings was up against someone who’s played in the EFL for seven or eight years and at times he came out on top.
“Max Culverwell made two or three really good saves against experienced strikers, while it was good for Ozzy to get another two goals and Remaye will take confidence from his penalty.”
Osborne agreed that he and his team-mates took a lot from the game and was pleased with his individual performance.
The winger said: “We dug deep today so it’s a good learning curve for us as a group, and individually I felt I played well.
“After talking to Harry Kewell last week I wanted to improve my end product and come away from this match with a goal or assist, so I’m pleased to get on the scoresheet twice today.
“With the second one I knew I could’ve passed it to Remaye but I went the hard way about it because I had faith in myself to dummy past a few people and stick it in the bottom corner.”