AcademyU23s reaction: 'It was brilliant to see Layton back'

The young Reds stretched their unbeaten run to eight matches and they have suffered just one defeat in 12 outings since the start of 2022.

Jack Bearne continued his fine form as he drilled home the opening goal for his ninth of the season in this Premier League 2 match.

Tyler Morton made it 2-0 before Tom Clayton added a magnificent third when he finished off a move he had started with a superb far-post header.

Stewart made his comeback after 13 months out as a second-half substitute, and the striker almost made it a dream return but saw an effort cleared off the line.

Read on as Lewtas reflects on the performance and Stewart being back…

On how pleased he was with the display…

Very, against a good team. We didn’t play well away at West Ham earlier this season when they turned us over so we knew we were in for a game. I thought for 90 minutes we were the better team and the performance was excellent.

On the team carrying on their excellent form…

I think that’s been the real kind of vibe since Christmas really. You can single people out for goals and certain key moments in games, but I think when when you look at it collectively we are talking about the whole group, including the subs who are coming, on making an impact. That is really important. So, a really good team performance and lots of fantastic individual ones as well.

On how good the pressing was, replicating the first team…

Yes, I always say we try to be a bit of an imitation of them, albeit sometimes a poorer version, but that’s what we try to do. At the beginning of the season we worked ever so hard at it and we couldn’t quite sustain that concentration for the 90 minutes, but since Christmas we have been able to do that.

On the return of Stewart…

It was brilliant to see him back. Obviously he got his injury here against West Ham and that’s the way it works sometimes, that we are playing the same team again. He has been training hard and it was his time to get a few minutes. He was a little bit rusty so we’ve got to be patient with him but you could see he is fit and he is ready, so we’ve just got to hopefully give him some more minutes between now and the end of the season.

On Stewart coming close to a goal…

I think he just snatched at it. I think his eyes lit up and with a No.9 like him he would normally put that away.

On the form of Bearne…

Jack has been brilliant. He has been similar to us this season and has started to find consistency for the full 90 minutes. His energy and the way he presses is excellent and it really sets the tone for us. Jack is a good player and he has found a real flow in his performance at the moment.

On another goal for Morton, his second in a week…

We mentioned last week with him that it was his first goal of the season against Blackpool. Tyler is someone who wants to score more goals, especially when he plays a little bit more advanced for us. Tyler was excellent, the way he built the game alongside Leighton Clarkson, and he made some great runs into the box.

On the performance of Clayton and his outstanding goal…

Tom has been ever so good for us. He’s a real personality and character off the pitch and people don’t see that. He’s one of our more experienced players, he is unbelievably versatile because you don’t just put him there and he fills a spot, he actually does the job he is there to do. He played as an advanced midfielder today and he pressed well, he leads and he showed he can score goals. All-round he has to be really pleased with his performance.

On three games remaining this season, including the Lancashire FA Senior Cup final against Burnley…

We want to finish this season strongly. We’ve made the final of the Lancashire FA Senior Cup, which we are looking forward to, and we want to finish the season as strong as we can. We go to Leicester City away on Monday and then finish at home against Manchester United, so there are some really good games to look forward to. Three really exciting games for us.