Kit Symons believes Fulham’s young players will learn from their Capital One Cup defeat against Derby.
A youthful Whites side looked to be heading for the quarter-finals after Moussa Dembele’s first senior goals put them two up.
But the Rams stormed back to win 5-2 after blistering second-half showing.
“It’s a tough lesson for the players. There were a lot of young players out there, but they’ll learn from that and they will be better for it,” said Symons.
“They are excellent young players and can cause any team problems when they go forward, as they showed.
“In the first half, with regards to the discipline of the team and the tracking of runners, I thought we did really well – the dirty side of the game.
“But the second half unfortunately was a completely different story. Our shape and our discipline became a bit disjointed and they punished us.
Caretaker boss Symons does not believe the result will damage his chances of securing the manager’s job.
He said: “I’d like to think, and I do think, that the process will look at me in the longer term and the club in the longer term.”
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This post was last modified on 29/10/2014