DAMIEN Johnson believes his young Blackburn Rovers side will benefit from the experience of facing such an experienced Arsenal line-up in their Under-21 Premier League Division Two play-off semi-final 2-1 defeat.

Arsenal named international trio Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky and Calum Chambers in a strong team also featuring fellow first-teamer Serge Gnabry for Tuesday’s Emirates clash.

But the star-studded Gunners were given a real run for their money by a Rovers side who fell behind shortly after half-time only to level the contest through 16-year-old Joe Rankin-Costello.

That was the way it stayed until the 80th minute when Chris Wilcock netted his second goal of the match to send Arsenal through to the final.

Rovers U21 lead coach Johnson said: “We are disappointed to lose the game but there is no doubt that we have come up against a very good side.

“They had the first-teamers playing so it is great experience for our guys in terms of playing against top class players.

“We knew it was always going to be tough, they were always going to have a lot of the ball but I felt on the whole we coped okay.

“When you come to a place like Arsenal you are going to have to rely on your goalkeeper to make some saves and (Andy) Fisher did that.

“When we got our goal we had a real belief about us and we looked like we could cause them more problems but their second goal is a good goal from the kid; he’s a good player.

“But all in all, for their development and experience, it was terrific for them.”

The Gunners were unable to find a way past Fisher and his Rovers’ resolute rearguard until the 49th minute when returning Spanish star Cazorla played in Willock to score.

Parity was restored in the 64th minute when a free kick from now fully fledged first-team member Connor Mahoney broke to Rankin-Costello, who did the rest with a sweetly struck 20-yard volley.

Following the equaliser it became a much even encounter with chances at both ends.

But with 10 minutes of normal time remaining Willock twisted and turned before firing in the winner.

Arsenal will now face Aston Villa in Tuesday’s final at the Emirates.