Everton's inexperience at this level was their downfall against Liverpool - one of the best sides David Unsworth has ever seen in Premier League 2.
The young Blues lost 3-1 at home to the Reds last night in Southport in their second game of the new season.
Liverpool took a 2-0 lead before substitutes Rafa Garcia and Lewis Dobbin linked up to reduce the deficit but the visitors scored a third to make sure of the win.
Unsworth was disappointed and admitted it was "hard" to concede that Liverpool deserved to win the min-derby at the Pure Stadium, but said his young players came up against one of the strongest sides he's ever witnessed in under-23s football.
"The best team won, which is hard for me to say, but anyone at the game couldn't deny that," Unsworth said.
"It was the second game of the season, just too much, too soon to ask our young team to compete with that Liverpool side. We tried, we got a goal back, we competed but they were just too strong for us all over the pitch."
Asked what he told his players after the defeat, Unsworth said: "You always have to be honest with footballers.
"You can't go in there balling and shouting as much as you might want to because of the disappointment of who you are playing and the manner of the defeat.
"But I thought Liverpool were strong, the level of player they had out. They had a little bit of experience at the back, which makes a massive difference, they had the flair and experience upfront and the quality.
"With our young team, it was just too much for us at this level.
"If our lads are going to be players at any sort of level they will learn from this quickly. You have to take your medicine and learn from it quickly.
"They are one of the best teams we've played over the last couple of years, that level of strength Liverpool showed tonight in what they put out. It was as good as you are going to see at this level. I've watched a lot of games and our lack of experience all over the pitch tonight showed against that."
