ACADEMY manager Jon Pepper believes the disappointment within the ranks after Burnley Under-23s suffered a late defeat to Millwall is a sign of the progress they have made.

Tinashe Chakwana cancelled out Lewis White's early goal at Turf Moor and the Clarets went on to have the better of the game, only to be beaten by George Alexander's injury-time strike.

Pepper was in charge of the side as Michael Duff finalises his move to become the new manager at Cheltenham Town and he was disappointed with the manner of the defeat for the young Clarets.

"You’re disappointed because the lads worked hard, we had a lot of opportunities, we got in behind them quite often," Pepper said.

"You get to 90-odd minutes and you’re thinking ‘just see the game out’, take a draw and move on.

"It’s disappointing but I thought the lads played well, especially first half, they dominated the game."

Burnley have now suffered three defeats from their five Professional Development League games this term, with wins against Cardiff City and Crystal Palace.

But in their second year at this level the start has been much better than 12 months ago and Pepper can see signs of progress.

"Last year was our first in this league, it’s a big step up for some of them. They’re still quite young, 18 or 19 essentially, most of them are under 20," the Academy manager said.

"We’re really pleased with how they’ve started and the lads are looking back at games where they’ve dropped points and they’re disappointed thinking we should have had points from those games.

"We’re in a healthier position, expectations within the group are a lot higher than 12 months ago."