The City Ground club has never shied away from promoting youngsters to the first team.
However, the impressive performances from Nuno Espirito Santo’s side mean that getting into the senior picture will be even harder.
Under-21s boss Warren Joyce stated: “You are striving for progress all the time. We’ve got to aim to try to get our boys in the first-team, but the first-team are doing fantastic so the bar gets higher,” he said. “But that is a good challenge for everybody who works at the academy, and certainly the players.
“We are trying to develop players either for the first-team or to get out on loan or even be sold to other clubs. Particularly the level the first-team are playing at, not everybody can break through and play at that level in the Premier League, where you’re in the top group in the Premier League.
“The job is about trying to instil good habits, with and without the ball, so they know their jobs. That then means people watching think they are reliable men - not boys - who they can take into their team and wouldn’t let anybody down.
“They get opportunities to train with the first-team, which is fantastic. We have got to try to get them good enough to play at that level, which is hard because the bar has been raised. But against a really good League One side, they have given a good account of themselves and shown they can solve a lot of problems and go toe to toe with men.”