AcademyU21s reaction: 'I was pleased with our display, we just couldn't get the goal'

Ben Doak came back from injury to complete the full 90 minutes and was lively throughout the contest, during which Lewtas’ charges certainly created enough opportunities to win the game but found opposition stopper Gabriel Slonina in excellent form.

Read on for Lewtas’ post-match reaction with Liverpoolfc.com on the draw, the return of Doak and more…

On the overall performance…

I thought it was two good teams, they are second in the league and you can see why, so we knew we had to be at our best today and I thought it was two teams who gave it a real go. I was really pleased with our performance but we just couldn’t get the goal.

On Doak playing the full 90 minutes…

He hasn’t played a full 90 for a while and he has trained really well and I was keen to give him minutes. He was a real threat on that right side of the pitch. We were also able to mix both sides up nicely and weren’t just too heavily reliant on Ben. We showed some good flexibility in our game.

On creating some decent openings…

I thought the Chelsea goalkeeper played well. We know where we have been a little bit short and goals has been it and that’s as a team. We hit the bar from a set-piece and I thought we got in behind them really well. I thought we were a little unlucky when Melkamu Frauendorf was in against their goalkeeper, whether it was a penalty or not we didn’t get it. So, I was really pleased with our intent and how we played. It just wouldn’t go in for us today.

On Billy Koumetio almost producing a replica of his incredible goal recently against Paris Saint-Germain…

Billy was unlucky there. It has been a lot of hard luck stories for us this season as we have been in some very close games and been edged out, which has been disappointing for us. I thought we looked quite mean defensively and we carried a threat.

On the excellent display of Lee Jonas, who continues to grow in a new position of right-back…

Lee is growing into it nicely. Obviously Lee is a centre-back, but it’s a real opportunity for him to experience a new position as well and show a little bit of versatility. While we have Rhys [Williams] and Billy, there is an opportunity there for him. I think Lee has grown into this position. He offers his defensive qualities but our goal against Wolves recently is probably a good example with the pass he makes for it. He had another solid game for us.

On the next outing, also at home against Leicester City on Saturday afternoon…

The quality of the games this year have been really good. The league has been excellent and every game has been really competitive. The teams are well coached with good game plans and we know every game in this league is tough.