Dave Hewson praised some of the younger members of his Workington Reds squad after they were 'thrown in at the deep end' on Tuesday night.

A young side lost 2-1 at home to Prescot Cables in the Integro League Cup but Hewson says there were plenty of positives to take out of the game.

"The result is always important and we want to win every game but there were players that needed game time and minutes and they were thrown in at the deep end," explained joint manager Hewson.

"It was a chance for them to test themselves against a physical experienced outfit like Prescot and I think a lot of players got a lot out of the game which was important."

One of the players thrown in at the deep end was Chris O'Brien and he came out with flying colours.

The Millom man appeared confident in defence, helping to marshal the young side at Borough Park.

"I thought he came in at centre half and looked very comfortable," said Hewson.

"He was strong, winning his tackles but he also had the confidence to step out from the back with the ball to get us playing and look to get us passing so I was really, really pleased with Chris."

Hewson also had words of praise for both Kieron Olsen and the goal-scorer Kieran Maguire, who powered home the opener.

"He picked the ball up in his more favoured position, a more central role as he's been playing quite wide recently," Hewson said of Maguire.

"I know he's capable of doing that, he has a lovely left foot and he just shifted it onto his side and no keeper was stopping that.

"And I thought Kieron Olsen looks nice and assured. He was playing a little bit unfamiliar, wide right, but you can see what he can do.

"I like the bite he has got in his game, he's feisty and aggressive, likes to tackle and I think that's important for our league.

"On top of that his quality on the ball is always good so it was a pleasing performance.

"I thought as a team we started extremely bright and with a lot of tempo and deservedly went in front.

"But then they got a foothold in the game and began to dominate large spells.

"That's where our inexperience showed a little bit, in terms of how we adapted and managed those key parts of the game.

"Again in the second half we came to life and created some more chances so there were a lot of positives we can take from it as well."

Reds now will look ahead to Saturday and their FA Cup tie at Knaresborough.