U21 | Birmingham City 3-4 Cardiff City

City's U21s recorded a 4-3 victory over Birmingham city at the knighthead training and academy grounds on friday afternoon.

Darren Purse's side have now won three consecutive PDL fixtures, following victories over Wigan Athletic and Fleetwood Town.

Reaction | Darren Purse

After the full-time whistle, U21 manager Darren Purse said: "It was another good performance in tough conditions. I'm delighted to win three games in a row. I was disappointed to concede three goals, so that's one thing that we need to be tidier with. But, we could have easily scored more than four goals and even before the sending off, we dominated the game and should have been in front at half-time. 

"We managed possession well, carved them open a few times and should have been a bit more ruthless in the scoreline with the chances that we created. It's a positive start to the season, but there will be tough games to come after the international break and they're games that we're looking forward to. 

"It's been a busy week for the Academy, but we have dealt with it well and that's testament to the players and the staff in the way that they've prepared the boys, both in pre-season and during the season to make sure that they're fit and ready to attack the number of games that they're playing."

Match Summary

The young Bluebirds claimed another PDL victory, fighting back to earn a 4-3 win over Birmingham City.

The hosts led twice in the first half, with Ben Wodskou netting a brace for the Blues, but Isaac Jefferies and Morgan Wigley both cancelled out their lead.

Just before the break, Birmingham were reduced to ten players, as Laiith Fairnie was shown a red card.

The Bluebirds took advantage in the second period, with Trey George and Will Spiers both on the scoresheet, either side of Wodskou's third goal, meaning Purse's side came away with three points.

Reaction | Will Spiers

Defender Will Spiers, who got on the scoresheet for City, netting his first goal of the campaign added: "It's been a good start to the season for us. Today was a tough game, it was a battle, but we stuck together and it's great to have three wins in a row now.

"It's always nice to get a goal, my first one of the season, so hopefully, I can push on now and help the team in any way that I can. 

"We've got two tough games coming up against Ipswich Town and Merthyr Town, those are two big games for us and we'll aim for wins in both of them."

Pre-match | Darren Purse

Ahead of the fixture, we caught up with U21 manager Purse, who began by reflecting on the win over Fleetwood Town last time out. 

"In the last couple of games, the performances have been a lot better than it was in the Sheffield Wednesday game. It's been a really busy week for most of the young players, playing for us on Monday, there was an U18 friendly on Tuesday, then a First Team game on Wednesday and we have to go again on Friday with the U21s and the U18s have a game on Saturday. We're getting the boys used to that double gameweek and the planning being a lot shorter. They've been trying to take on as much information as they can and hopefully, it will work in the game at Birmingham."

In midweek, there was a heavy Academy involvement in our First Team fixture against Southampton. 

Darren continued: "The Carabao Cup over the last two years have been fruitful for the Academy, with the manager wanting to take a look at the boys. It's nice to get some debuts, but we want to make careers for these players, rather than just the debuts. It's about them playing games for the football club and they look back when they're 35 with a lot of games played in their careers. That's what we're in it for is giving them a platform to make a career for themselves."

Turning his attention to Friday's fixture, Darren concluded: "We want a performance from the boys and to stick to our principles and to hopefully, win the game. There are always going to be positives we can take from each game. We've given the boys non-negotiables that they need to stick to every week, as long as we stick to them, we've got enough quality in the group to produce good performances.

Pre-Match | Morgan Wigley

Winger Morgan Wigley, who has had a positive start to the campaign, added: "It's been a decent start to the season from the lads. In the first game against Sheffield Wednesday, we lost it, but we took the good and bad things forward and worked on them. I think you can see that in the last two games and that's been shown in the results. We played against two good sides and have come away with two wins, so we're in positive form at the minute and need to build on that. 

Having found the net against Fleetwood Town last time out, he continued: As an attacking player, goal contributions is what I strive for. That's what you get your confidence from and it helps you get better. We've got a really strong squad this year with a lot of experience of U21s football. We've got high expectations when we go into games, so hopefully, we can perform as we should. 

Morgan was included on the First Team bench against Southampton in midweek. Reflecting on the experience, the winger concluded: "I was buzzing for the boys and happy for myself as well, because I wasn't expecting to be on the bench. It's something that, as a young player striving towards the First Team, it gives you a lot of confidence. Seeing two teammates in Cody Twose and Isaac Jefferies making their debuts, hopefully, we can contribute more."

information FOR FANS

Unfortunately, due to construction work taking place at the ground, no spectators are permitted to attend tomorrow’s U21 fixture.

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