Spurs’ various youth-teams enjoyed a mix set of results over the last few days

Wayne Burnett’s Tottenham Hotspur under-21s suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat away to Luton Town in the English Football League Trophy on Tuesday night.

Spurs were playing their first game in the competition after accepting an invitation to feature in the tournament and produced a thriller at Kenilworth Town.

League Two outfit Luton took the lead after 19 minutes of the Group F fixture when Luke Gambin found the corner from close range.

It took Burnett’s team just two minutes to respond though, when Joe Pritchard let fly from 22-yards and saw his shot hit the post before ricocheting off goalkeeper James Shea and in.

Ryan Loft put Spurs 2-1 up early in the second half after linking up with Will Miller, but the Hatters hit back with Josh McQuoid levelling.

It remained that way, which meant penalties were needed to decide who picked up an extra point and Luton won 4-2 following spot-kicks.

Tottenham have had a mixed week after opening their Premier League 2 campaign on Friday night with a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland.

Spurs’ under-23s looked set to start with a win, but conceded twice in the final 20 minutes to suffer a loss at Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground.

Burnett took his squad to face the Black Cats knowing Tottenham’s previous history against Sunderland wasn’t good.

Previous Spurs under-23 teams had failed to win any of their past five meetings and unfortunately it was six after this result.

An away victory seemed likely when Kazaiah Sterling smartly fired home in the first-half with 35 minutes played.

Oliver Skipp’s powerful header resulted in Sterling getting behind the Sunderland back line and he drove in from 12-yards.

But Ethan Robson equalised for the hosts in the 70th minute, when he fired home from outside the area.

And Sunderland grabbed a late winner when Denver Hume shot past Brandon Austin in the 89th minute.

It was a disappointing end to an encouraging Tottenham performance, especially given the level of opposition.

The Black Cats included a number of first-teamers in their starting XI like Jack Rodwell, Bryan Oviedo and Papy Djilobodji.

Spurs could be proud of their efforts and despite a shoot-out loss at Luton, can be fairly happy with their work this week against stern opposition.

Next up for Burnett’s team is a home fixture with their West Ham rivals on Monday (August 21) at Hotspur Way, a 12pm kick-off.

Scott Parker’s under-18s started life under their new coach with a dominant 4-0 victory over Norwich City.

Phoenix Patterson and Jamie Bowden netted in the first half before Reo Griffiths and Dilan Markanday scored after the break.

Tottenham goalkeeper and captain for the day Jonathan De Bie had to work hard for his clean sheet though, as he made a string of impressive saves.

It was an excellent start for Parker and co and they’ll look to build on this result away to Leicester City in the under-18s Premier League this weekend.