Steven Schumacher believes the future is bright for Stoke after his youngsters took centre stage in the 5-0 Carabao Cup second round win at Middlesbrough.
Emre Tezgel and Liverpool loanee Lewis Koumas, both 18, were on the scoresheet at the Riverside while there was a hat-trick of assists for 20-year-old Andrew Moran.
Tezgel put Stoke ahead in the first half before the Potters stunned their hosts with four goals in 12 second-half minutes.
Schumacher said: “It was a really good night. These are nights you need to enjoy as a coach because you get enough difficult ones.
“I’m not bothered how young or old the players are, as long as they’re good enough. I’m not frightened to put young players in the team.
“We believe in them and think they’ve got loads of qualities and if they don’t get chances like this how are they going to progress and develop?
“We wanted to freshen it up and that was the message to the lads. We told the lads to go and express themselves and enjoy it and play with freedom. I’m delighted.”
Boro boss Michael Carrick, who also named a young side, will not over-react after the heavy home defeat to their Championship rivals.
He said: “It was a strange game. It was just that 12-minute spell.
“It was a harsh lesson in how brutal football can be if you don’t take your chances and don’t defend well enough and the game goes away from you.
“Largely there was a lot of good things but it just went away from us really quick.”
