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Hartlepool United boss Lee Clark opens up on 10-0 defeat to Middlesbrough U21s & answers question over four early subs Hartlepool United boss Lee Clark opens up on 10-0 defeat to Middlesbrough U21s. Hartlepool United head coach Lee Clark has opened up about the heavy 10-0 defeat to Middlesbrough U21s in the National League Cup - and the lessons learned from the loss earlier this week. The Mail has launched a new WhatsApp HUFC Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click this link to join our HUFC WhatsApp channel. The club’s academy manager Alex Cross had already admitted the 10-0 defeat to Boro was ‘extremely difficult to accept’ but will ensure the young players learn from it. Cross led the side at Victoria Park, in front of hundreds of fans on Tuesday afternoon, against the Middlesbrough Premier League 2 side and Pools were on the receiving end of a club record defeat. Hartlepool United are in Group C alongside Boreham Wood, Solihull Moors, Tamworth, Everton, Leeds United, Middlesbrough & Newcastle United. Everton PL2 visit Victoria Park on Tuesday, September 8th (7pm), followed by Newcastle United PL2 on Tuesday, October 13 (7pm) and Leeds United PL2 on Tuesday, November 3 (7pm). Last season it is understood the competition forces clubs to start a minimum of four players in National League Cup matches that started for teams in either their previous league match, or start in the one that follows on from that particular National League Cup match. The game against Boro quickly descended into farce when first team players Brooklyn Ilunga, Will Harris, Chris Popov and first team captain Jack Hunter were all subbed within the opening minute. When asked by the Mail whether fans can expect the same situation with the subs for every National League Cup fixture this season, Clark said: “It's something that we look at, of course. I'm not going to put what we're looking to do, the big picture, with the first team in jeopardy by overplaying them. Our priorities are the National League, the FA Trophy and the FA Cup. We decided as a football club that the National League Cup was a real sensible thing to do because of bringing the under-21 team into the football club. We feel that it's still the same. “We don't change our mindset just because of a horrific day on Tuesday and the result. Whenever you have bad days, you still learn things from them, that's what these young lads will do. As I said at the start, my last few days have just been to make sure Alex Cross and his staff are okay. I've been through many results in my career. To get beat is a horrible thing in any way. To get beat in a scoreline like that can be horrendous. My concerns on Tuesday night was to just get round Alex and his staff and make sure they were alright. “Alex will deal with the players, of course, what they're left to experience now is, for the first time probably, that they've been in the spotlight. You get a little bit of criticism and that's what happens. We've got to put them into that arena because when they get to first team level, that's what they've got to deal with. It's super hyped up even more so with social media now. They have to be ready for the environment. “Lots of learning things, I can't say for definite in terms of the next game, but we're not going away from the ultimate project of this National League Cup being a basis for our U21 boys to get real good experience of the whole situation because ultimately, all that matters is I see players who I believe can cope with playing for this football club - that has high expectations - and have the ability to do it. Even on a horrific day on Tuesday, three or four of them showed up well on a difficult day.” Clark, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Aldershot Town, added: “It was a real difficult day and I felt so much for Alex Cross. Shell-shocked after the game. We just went into my office and sat for a while. Nobody spoke. I just felt for him and his staff really but it's something that we talk about. It's something that I've gone on record as saying that the competition has to be for our young players to develop them. They haven't been together that long, it's a new team. “Alex didn't have the opportunity to work a lot with the starting XI at all. You've got the situation where I have to start the game with four starters from the previous league game, which, without getting in too deep I don't agree with and then you sub them off after a minute and put the four youngsters on. So yeah, all in all it was an extremely tough day but just making sure that Alex and his staff are in a good place still because obviously that would have hit them hard,” he told BBC Tees Sport. Your next Hartlepool United read: Hartlepool United team and injury news: Liam Gibson & Jay Benn fitness update pre-Aldershot Town trip