Kenny Swain was naturally disappointed not to see his England U16s retain the Victory Shield in Scotland on Friday night – but he is more interested in how his squad have developed than any scoreline.
Swain’s Young Lions went down 1-0 at Raith Rovers in a result that saw Scotland take the 2013 Shield, the first time England haven’t won the tournament in well over a decade.
But with a trip to the USA on the horizon to face Brazil, Portugal and the host nation in December, Swain is already looking ahead at his squad's future development.
Looking back at Friday's result, Swain said: “I think overall, barring the first 15 minutes of the game where both teams were sparring, it was pretty even.
“The goal was just a calamitous mistake, but those things happen at any level, and taking that out of the game, I was pretty confident at half time that we were playing well enough to go on and win the game.
The England U16s line-up to face Scotland in the Victory Shield.
“But we didn’t get behind them or threaten their goal as much as we would have liked during the second half.”
Just as Swain never read too much into his team’s Shield dominance in previous seasons, he won’t be too concerned at Friday’s reverse either.
But he paid tribute to Scotland, whose strength and solidity prevented any chance of an England comeback and a 13th straight Shield title.
“It wasn’t an unfair result,” he admitted.
“I knew they were organised as I’d watched them play six weeks ago against Italy and they beat them 3-1 with a pretty solid performance. I could see then they had some strength right through the middle.
“They have ability in and around that strength, but most importantly I think they were organised and looked like they had played together for some time, which they have.”
“I don’t measure it by victories or losses, I just look at how players are developing.”
Kenny Swain England U16s Head Coach
And although he would have loved to have retained the Shield for a 13th successive season, Swain is not a man to get too upset about a defeat.
He explained: “I don’t measure it by victories or losses, I just look at how players are developing and what the standard is this year compared to the last.
“It really is a player development experience, so I would say that I have learnt that if you want to really build a squad then you have to do it bit-by-bit.
“This year, I don’t think that we have had the opportunity to bring through a core of players that we have been able to do over recent years. Largely, it has been a different squad each time - that’s been a difficult thing.
“We get the opportunity to look at the players in the Shield, but this particular year, we have had a few more who are there or thereabouts.”
Despite the setback against Scotland, Swain’s players still have a lot to look forward and the Head Coach is just as excited about the upcoming months with his squad.
“This USA trip is an opportunity that we can’t turn down, and we have another tournament in February at St. George’s Park,” he revealed.
“These tournaments are in our minds when we look at which players to give opportunities to in these [Victory Shield] matches.
“These are key events that we really want to give our players some exposure in and they will be fantastic to be involved with.”
