James Lester

U18 Match Preview | Cardiff City vs. Watford

Academy
Cardiff City’s U18 side continue their Premier Development League campaign on Saturday, as they welcome Watford to Cardiff City stadium – KO at 2pm.

Despite Mannie Barton scoring a magnificent four goals at The Den, the Bluebirds suffered defeat at the hands of Millwall last time out. The result leaves Tom Hutton’s side in third place in the PDL South, with three matches of the campaign remaining.

This weekend sees City welcome Watford to CCS. The Hornets find themselves one point and one place behind the Bluebirds in the PDL South standings. The London-based side come into the contest on the back of a draw in their last game at home to Birmingham City.

Tom Hutton in training for Cardiff City U18

We caught up with U18 head coach Tom Hutton ahead of the fixture.

“We have to recover from the Millwall game and take the learning out of it and move on," Tom began. "We aren’t going to have a lot of time to debrief and prepare. Part of the challenge is how they learn really quickly and get ready for the next challenge.

“We had a really good game against them earlier in the season. It really challenged us tactically and we had to adapt to how they played. I think we will be expecting that again from them. It will be nice for the boys to have an experience of Cardiff City Stadium.

“I think that will bring around a nice challenge, similar to Millwall and hopefully they are better for the experience."