Manchester United under-18s lost 3-2 at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

The visitors looked set fair for a hard-fought victory after Ethan Hamilton and Aidan Barlow scored in the second half, but Rovers crowned an astonishing fightback with three late strikes to inflict United's first Academy league defeat since mid-September.

This was the Reds' penultimate fixture in the regional group phase of this season's Under-18 Premier League before all the clubs from both divisions are merged together for the final stage.

Currently sitting second in the North table, Kieran McKenna's United team are already guaranteed a place in the final stage's top group from which this season's champions will emerge.