Cardiff City’s U18s return to Premier League Development action this Saturday, as they travel to take on Charlton Athletic – KO at 1pm.
Last weekend saw the Bluebirds face off against the same opposition in Leckwith, and they were on the end of a 1-0 defeat. Despite creating plenty of chances, Charlton scored from the penalty spot early in the second half to snatch all three points away from South Wales.
The result meant City drop down to fourth place in the PDL South, with Charlton jumping over them in the process. However, Tom Hutton’s side still have two games in hand over the top two teams in the division: Watford and Bristol City.
Saturday gives the Bluebirds are chance to make amends straight away against the same opposition. The task in hand, however, is a difficult one. The Addicks are unbeaten at home in seven games, and last tasted defeat on their own patch in late October against QPR.
Ahead of the fixture, we caught up with head coach Tom Hutton.
"I think it will be another tough challenge, like it was last weekend. There were a lot of positives in last week's performance and that will be something that we will be trying to build on this Saturday. It's quite uncommon to have the challenge of playing a team back-to-back but it does afford us the opportunity to build on a lot of the positive stuff from last weekend. The focus in training this week has been on trying to be a little bit more clinical in and around the box with the chances that we created.
"Since some of our U21 lads went out on loan, the most important thing for us as an Academy has been communication between staff and that is strong. We have regular meetings about which players are playing in each game and I think that's been something that has been really beneficial this year. Gavin Chesterfield has brought an idea in terms of how we want to develop players individually and that for me is the most important thing. We've become far more strategic with when our individuals play and for how long. It has allowed us to ensure that we are challenging our players, so we've been fortunate with that this year."