David Wright said his Under-23s side can learn a great deal from their opening Premier League International Cup defeat at the hands of Athletic Club Bilbao.
City were comfortbaly swept aside by their Spanish counterparts on Wednesday night after goals from Asier Villalibre (2) and Jon Rojo helped them ease to a 3-0 triumph.
Speaking post-match, Wright said: "We were off the pace in terms of our intensity in possession and out of possession.
"We spoke before the game and we've done a lot of work on ball speed but we lacked that tonight.