Keith Southern praised the character of his players after Everton bowed out of the Liverpool Senior Cup on Tuesday night.
The Blues lost 3-2 in the quarter-finals against Northern Premier League Division One side Widnes but very nearly fought their way back from three goals down, a Rhys Hughes penalty and Kameron Stanley's smart finish drawing Everton within one goal of completing a second-half recovery.
“I was really pleased, our lads deserve a lot of credit for the way they kept going,” said Academy coach Southern.
“We nearly got back in it and they panicked a bit in the last ten minutes when we got our second goal.