Fulham fixture a great opportunity to bounce back, says Wilkinson | OneFootball

Elite Development Squad Lead Coach Ben Wilkinson says our Premier League 2 top-of-the-table clash with Fulham is the perfect opportunity for our Academy contingent to return to winning ways following our UEFA Youth League exit.

Our Under-19s fell to a late 1-0 defeat at AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday to see us exit the European competition at the quarter-final stage.

It’s the furthest City’s young boys in blue have progressed since 2017/18, showing an impressive level of development from the squad in the recent years.

And despite the difficult circumstances of our defeat in the Netherlands, Wilkinson is confident his team will be fully focused on our trip to Fulham and using it to get back to more positive results.

“I think we always speak about arriving in this part of the season and trying to be in a position where we have these moments and we’ve done that,” said Wilkinson.

“I think Fulham is a really good game for us to bounce back into because of the level of the game and what’s on it [fighting for first].

WATCH: Highlights: AZ Alkmaar 1-0 City U19s

“And the Under-18s have got an FA Youth Cup semi-final so for us as an Academy we want to get to this point in the year and have these opportunities and these games because we get so much out of them.

“Obviously we want to win the games, but with a development hat on, you can still look at this and think where can we get better, where can we learn and the players can have some fantastic experiences along the way.”

Our quarter-final tie was the furthest City has progressed in the Youth League since 2017/18.

At the full-time whistle, Wilkinson’s squad had enjoyed more of the ball, shots on target and played some of our best football in the competition against the 2022/23 Youth League champions.

But Deacon van der Klaauw’s winning strike four minutes into added time was the defining moment. Wilkinson reiterated that a tough defeat such as Wednesday’s will be just as important in his squad’s development in the final few weeks of the season.

“I’m really pleased I think the lads have matured a lot over the season in terms of transitioning from a youth football player to something that looks like a more senior football player,” began Wilkinson.

“And I thought we showed all of those behaviours in the second half. We can look at the goal and think we can do better on the goal we've conceded. Can we stop the throw, can we stop someone on the six, can we compete better in the duel but we did that for 93 minutes.

“And I think there was so many pleasing things individually and as a collective that there is loads for us to take out of it in terms of the learning and development for the players.”