City U18 travel to Keele University on Saturday to take on Port Vale U18 in the EFL Youth Alliance (12noon KO).
Hear from head coach Sam Tillen and forward Dakara Wifa as well as important match information in this preview.
Sam Tillen’s thoughts:
[On Lewy Oliver, Josh Kennealey and other younger players] “We’ve got a lot of fixtures coming up and it’s a rather hectic schedule in the next couple of weeks so they’ll be opportunities for those lads and it’ll be their opportunity to take. They’ve had consistent performances in their own groups and they deserve to be around the 18s.
“It gives us chances to give players the chance to play and that only helps me, the team dynamic as it gives players the chance to fight for a regular place in the team. Competition for places in the team is always healthy and that drives training standards and keeps the players motivated.
“They look like a well good organised side and we’ll have to be on top of our game to make sure we get something out of it. We’ve had a look at them and the their areas that we could potentially find a weakness and we know what they’re strong at. We’re aware of all of that but hopefully we can execute our game plan on Saturday.”
Dakara Wifa on Port Vale challenge:
“It’s an opportunity for us to bounce back from defeat and a good performance could change the mindset and feeling of changing room as if we get a win there then that could roll on and be a momentum thing.”
A look at the opposition:
Port Vale is another one of several new sides that City will face in the 24/25 season due to the revamped extended games programme by the EFL in the Youth Alliance.
The Valiants have endured a mix bag of results in the first two months of the campaign, winning just once and losing their last game against Salford City in the Youth Alliance Cup. Saturday’s hosts are 16th in the division, while City come into the game in 7th.
Match information:
City return to league action with a trip to Port Vale on Saturday and will look to build on a positive start to the season.
There’s free entry to the game for supporters with kick-off at 12noon, while there will also be updates available from our Academy X (formerly Twitter) account.