Under 18 manager Mike Dove said he was "chuffed to bits" with the progress made at Ipswich Town on Saturday despite a 2-0 defeat.

Two late goals from the Championship club denied the resilient young Dons their first point of the Academy Premier League season.

But Mike said his side achieved many of the goals they set for themselves this week and would rather see development from his players than results on the board.

He said: "I came away from Ipswich buzzing on Saturday because, despite the defeat, the boys put in a performance I was proud of.

"The players were a bit down about the loss but, from my point of view, we've got a small squad of just 12 apprentices and I'm not going to start getting wrapped up in results.

"At the end of the day, the objective is to develop players and when I see the improvements we made at Ipswich I know we're going to get there.

"In the first half particularly we played very well against Ipswich's diamond-shaped midfield, keeping our concentration and playing some good football."

After weathering an early storm from the home side - Kurt Fox making an unbelievable eighth-minute save as well as seeing an Ipswich effort come back off the post - the Dons started to make an impression.

Under 18 winger Hayden Carter.

Daniel Delderfield saw a cross-shot fly wide before the break, and almost converted a Hayden Carter pass just after it.

While the game became a little frantic halfway through the second period, the Dons came mighty close to forcing a breakthrough through substitute Charlie Collins.

Breaking onto Carter's pass after a quick clearance from Fox, Collins rounded the Ipswich goalkeeper and nobly stayed on his feet despite being clipped. His honesty should have been rewarded but the youngster's shot from a tight angle was cleared off the line.

The fine line between victory and defeat became apparent as the home side exploited gaps in the Dons defence to score twice in the final 15 minutes.

"We panicked a little in the second half," Mike admitted, "but the quality and focus we played with the first half was hugely encouraging.

"We need to show a little more composure, particularly in the final third, but overall I was chuffed to bits."

Dons (4-1-4-1): Fox, Williams, King (c), Flanagan, Milton; Farden (Newton 82), Dowling (Collins 70), M. Powell, D. Powell, Carter (Agombar 78), Delderfield.

Subs not used: Harrison, O'Hanlon