Jacob Murphy is in the very, very formative years of what could be a good career in football, but he has already suffered 'Wembley heartache'.

It has afflicted many professionals - usually those of a much more experienced variety - as their dream of appearing at the home of English football disappears in front of their eyes.

Murphy - and twin brother Josh - will celebrate his 19th birthday on Monday. On his CV, the Norwich City youngster has a grand total of four senior appearances, the latest of which was his only start, for Swindon, where he is on loan, against Peterborough, in Monday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy area final second leg.

It was a harsh learning curve; Murphy's poor pass let in Michael Bostwick whose cross found striker Britt Assombalonga, who headed home Posh's equaliser.

Then, five minutes from full-time, with the scores on the night and overall, level, Murphy was replaced by Tijane Reis. The suggestion was that Reis came on especially for the imminent penalty shootout.

It was a disappointing end to the match for Murphy, but worse was to come: with the penalty shootout locked at 3-3, Reis stepped up to the spot, and skewed his spot-kick horribly wide, leaving Tommy Rowe to slot home and claim Posh's place at Wembley.

Murphy had shown well in parts, but once Swindon had taken the lead in the 34th minute he was dropped back into a less adventurous role; perhaps he is better suited to playing out wide.

However, while it may take a while to get over the disappointment, the night will have served Murphy - and Norwich City - well. At his age, Murphy needs to learn, that is why he is out on loan. And anyone with access to the footballing cliché book will tell you that it is imperative you learn from your mistakes and disappointments - so you can tick that off the Murphy list without NCFC suffering any lasting damage.

Murphy is one for the future - and the recent past may come in handy one day

Do you think City benefit from sending their young players out on loan? Or is it a waste of time?