U18 Match Preview | Swansea City vs. Cardiff City
Cardiff City’s U18 side return to the Professional Development League on Saturday morning, as they travel to take on Swansea City at the Swansea City Youth Academy Training Centre – 11am kick-off.
The young Bluebirds look to return to winning ways following their 3-1 defeat at home against Charlton on Wednesday afternoon.
Tanatswa Nyakuhwa ten minutes in had given Cardiff a bright start, but two goals from Patrick Casey and one from Henry Rylah meant Charlton travelled back to London with the points.
“I was disappointed with the result,” said U18s Manager Steve Jenkins. “But I was also disappointed with the performance.
“We conceded really poor goals, in terms of giving the ball away in bad areas and being punished for it. But I felt like we were better than what we showed.
“It’s been a tough week. A disappointing loss up at Colchester, and then Charlton at home, so it hasn’t been a great week for us.”
The result still leaves Cardiff in third place in the PDL South and nine points behind leaders Millwall, while they do have a game in hand on the Lions.
This weekend, City travel to take on the Swans, in a highly anticipated match for the young Bluebirds.
“The boys understand what this game means,” Steve continued. “A lot of them are from the Cardiff area and are City fans, so they understand the rivalry.
“There will be supporters looking at our game on Saturday, so it’s important that we go there and perform and hopefully get the win.”
The Bluebirds got the better of the Swans in this fixture back in September. A penalty from Kyle Kenniford and a stoppage time goal from Cody Twose was enough to seal all three points.
While Swansea City come into this fixture bottom of the table, Jenkins is under no illusion about the challenge they pose.
He concluded: “They’re a good team; they like to keep possession, much like what the first team try and do.
“We’ve got great players and we’re a bit aggressive in the way we play. It’s about getting the ball in the final third and allowing our forwards to create something and score goals.”
