City’s U18 side returns to PDL action on Saturday afternoon, facing Colchester United.
The fixture will take place on February 8th, with a kick-off time of 1pm.
PRE-MATCH | TOM HUTTON
U18 manager Tom Hutton said this ahead of Saturday’s clash: “We were expecting a tough challenge last weekend, especially because Charlton is never an easy place to go. We prepared well for the game, but I thought in the first half we were second best. That’s credit to Charlton because they played some really good stuff, but I didn’t feel we were competitive enough in certain moments. Having said that, the boys reacted positively in the second half, and we were 3-2 up 18 minutes after the restart. That shows a real professionalism from our boys to accept our first half performance wasn’t good enough, but to have the ability to turn it around in the second half was great.
“There’s always a strong work ethic in this group but there’s also a strong character to it. They’re able to show resilience, and being behind in a game is an important experience for the players. Being able to stay calm when you’ve had a setback, whether it be conceding early or whatever, shows how determined the squad is. Things like that will happen in their careers, but they’re showing time and time again they’re capable of changing the result in their favour.
“We had a really difficult game against Colchester away from home. They didn’t make it easy for us but at the same time we didn’t make it easy for ourselves, in the sense that I thought we were a little wasteful with our chances. We’re expecting something similar from them again this time around, they’ll have a fluid way of playing so we will have to be structured well without the ball. But the lads are in a really good place and we’ll be looking to build on our previous wins on Saturday.”
PRE-MATCH | OSIAN REES
Ahead of the game, midfielder Osian Rees said: “We were all buzzing in the dressing room after the game against Charlton last weekend, especially because of the way we won it. To be 2-0 down so early on, we showed great character and fight to get back into the game. We deserved the win in the end. We’ve got a great togetherness in this squad. So many of us have played together for a long period of time, and we know as a group we will all fight for each other and fight for the full 90 minutes. We always have that feeling, even if we’re one or two down, that we’re going to have a chance to win the game.
“Over the years through playing together as a group, we know what we all need to do in order to help each other, and then we notice when other people are down and what we need to do to pick them back up. We’re all 100% together and we never give up on each other.
“Colchester is going to be a tough game, but every game in the league is a difficult one no matter where the opposition are in the table. Every team comes with a different challenge. It’s important that we take what we learned from the last few weeks and build on it on Saturday.”
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.