Paul Hart praised the attitude of the senior players involved in his Under-21s side after seeing them come from behind to claim a well-deserved 2-1 win away to Coventry City on Monday afternoon.

Hart fielded a team featuring four first-team squad members – Souleymane Doukara, Tommaso Bianchi, Casper Sloth and Kalvin Phillips – and it was the Danish midfielder Sloth who netted the winner after Luke Parkin had cancelled out Bassala Sambou’s seventh-minute strike.

Doukara teed up Parkin for the equaliser with some unselfish play inside the area and came close to finding the net on several occasions, while Bianchi completed his first full 90 minutes since recovering from a knee injury picked up in pre-season.

“I thought the senior players applied themselves exceptionally well, they showed a great attitude and people followed that,” said Hart.

“I was particularly pleased with the team’s performance because we’ve scored a lot of goals lately but only got draws. I was really pleased for them today, they deserved that win.”

Asked about Doukara’s display, Hart added: “He did really well. Sometimes it’s difficult to come down from the first team but his attitude was terrific.

“So was Casper’s and so was Tommaso’s. Phillips was excellent and I think they all enjoy it.

“Bianchi came through good (after his injury), he would have told us if he’d felt anything.

“He’s had a good build-up and has played 90 minutes now. I think he’s still probably a little bit away from firing on all cylinders, but we’re getting him through games now which is important.”

Coventry goalkeeper Corey Addai kept his side in the game with a number of fine saves, but United's Eric Grimes earned praise from Hart for his second-half heroics on an otherwise quiet afternoon for the youngster.

Hart said: “Their keeper played very well but our keeper made a terrific double save late in the second half to keep them out.

“Having not had a lot to do during the game, he did really well with that."