“But credit to our boys as well because over the two games they have worked very hard. They played well, particularly in the second half of tonight’s game. We competed well, passed the ball well, scored the goal and were unlucky not to get another one a bit later on. We were unfortunate with the second Arsenal goal which killed the game off. But to be fair, Arsenal were the better team and thoroughly deserved the Youth Cup this year.”

Now, though, McAuley is looking for his players to use their run to the final as the learning curve on making an impact further up the club.

He added: “These are high-profile games and it is good they can play in them. It is a fantastic vehicle for the senior staff to look at them and assess them.

“More importantly it is after the Youth Cup where we see whether we have got players who are capable of going on and playing firstly at second team level, then in the first team. That is always the objective. It is the same for Arsenal, and they obviously have because there are three or four who have already played at first-team level.

“It is comparative exercise in seeing where our players are compared to theirs. And long-term it is who can progress into the first-team training ground. Firstly hopefully they can go in and play second team football next year with the reserve team.

“It never happens that all 11 players go on and play in the first team and it is hard to say how many will go on.”