STEPHEN Purches is hoping members of his under-21s squad benefited from the experience of taking on Italian big guns AC Milan.

Corey Jordan and Ollie Harfield started at centre-half and left-back, respectively, in last Saturday's 2-1 friendly defeat at Vitality Stadium.

Jordan played for the opening 45 minutes while Harfield was kept on until 10 minutes from the end, when he was replaced by testimonial man Warren Cummings.

Goalkeeper Luke Holmes, Jake McCarthy and Callum Buckley entered the fray at half-time.

Purches told the Daily Echo: "I was really pleased with the lads that started, I thought they did really well and looked very accomplished.

"They will learn a great deal from experience of playing against Milan in front of a good crowd.

"For the lads coming on, 45 minutes against Milan is very hard to replicate so it was great experience for all of them.

"They have all shown bits of what they can do so far this season and it was a platform for them to go and play."