Alnwick: "A massive improvement"

Jak Alnwick praised his United Reserve teammates for a much-improved performance against Arsenal on Tuesday night, insisting the Magpies could have been toasting a memorable victory. As it was, Newcastle slipped to a 1-0 home defeat against the Gunners, but the scoreline doesn't tell the whole story as Alnwick and Co were outstanding in the second half at Whitley Park. Only two goalline clearances and the woodwork kept Arsenal's clean sheet in tact, and having been on a recent run of heavy defeats, the goalkeeper believes this performance will have done a young second string squad the world of good. "In the first half we didn't press as much as we wanted to, but in the second we came out and and pressed and put them under a lot of pressure, just like Willie (Donachie, Reserve team coach) told us to at half-time," explained Alnwick. "In the end we could have got at least a point out of the game, and maybe even won. "We've got to take our chances, but at the end of the day we are creating more chances now than we have been in previous games. "Our second half performance was unbelievable. It just shows what we can do, and if we can take that into the next game then I've got no doubt that can start winning games. "It was a massive improvement. We had a couple of older lads back, but it was still a young side and everyone deserves credit for the way we played. We pressed, kept the ball in the second half and put Arsenal under a lot of pressure. The chances will keep coming and we will start scoring goals." The Reserves' recent run of form can not have been easy for the players to take, with heavy defeats coming against Everton, Aston Villa, Chelsea, West Brom and Fulham. But Alnwick believes the experience will aid United's young stars, even if they are not winning every week. "You've got players moving up to the first team, there's been a few injuries and a lot of Academy games, so it's been hard for Willie to pick a squad with so many young players," said the stopper. "You probably learn more when you're losing games, and it has been good for the young lads to get experience. It is starting to show now, everyone is starting to learn and that showed in our second half performance against Arsenal."