City's U18s are in PDL action on Saturday afternoon, taking on Bournemouth.
The fixture will take place at Cardiff International Sports Campus on March 8th, with a kick-off time of 12pm.
PRE-MATCH | TOM HUTTON
U18 manager Tom Hutton said this ahead of the game against the Cherries: “Playing across age groups is something that’s important to us, and it something we try and be strategic about in terms of how and when we do it, and more importantly, who we do it with. There’s always a knock-on effect with U21 players who get called up to the seniors, and you have to be reactive to that as the U18 coach. Playing, but also training with an older age group is an important part of a player’s development, and those experiences are valuable, and I’m looking forward to seeing them carry those lessons back into the U18s programme.
“We had some games cancelled early on in the season, so March and April is a busy time for us, and then there’s an international break too where a lot of the boys will be away with their countries. It is an intense period, but the boys have been training hard and there’s a level of robustness to them. Now is the time you find out who the professionals are in terms of playing, training and recovery in such a short space of time, and there’s an expectation from the boys to deliver in all of those aspects.
“Bournemouth are a team we’ve played quite a lot over the last two seasons in both the league and the cup. We know they’re a good team, a well-coached team, who play a very similar style to ourselves. It’ll be a challenge for us. They had a good run in the FA Youth Cup, but we will be preparing as we normally do and hopefully get back to winning ways.”
PRE-MATCH | JOE EDWARDS
Ahead of the fixture, defender Joe Edwards said: “I’m buzzing to get back with the boys after not having a U18 game for two weeks. It’s going to be a really tough game this weekend, and it’s the start of a triple game week. The league is really close, but hopefully we can get the three points and get ourselves up the table.
“It’s been a really valuable experience playing with the U21s. To be able to pick up little things from the guys there that you can add to your game is important, especially mixing with some of the older boys there. I’m looking to bring those attributes back into the U18s and into my game. I also want to impose different behaviours whether that’s leadership or on the pitch stuff, I want to add as much to my game as possible and feed it down to the younger lads.
“We’ve had some difficult games lately. We’ve reflected and we’ve noticed that we’ve conceded some poor goals, so we’ll be looking to put that right on Saturday. Bournemouth are a really good side in possession, and they always pose a challenge tactically, but I feel like we’ve always matched them physically, and we’re going to have to match them again this time around. Hopefully our football will do all the talking.”
TICKET INFORMATION
Entry for this Saturday's match at Cardiff International Sports Campus will be free for all supporters.
REACHING THE GROUND
Supporters planning on attending on Saturday should use the following address:
Cardiff International Sports Campus, Leckwith Rd, Cardiff, CF11 8AZ.
The ground is located an 11-minute walk away from Ninian Park Station and a 32-minute walk from Cardiff Central Station.