AcademyU18s preview: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson on character, learning and Rio Ngumoha

After a tough start to 2024-25, the young Reds claimed their first point of the campaign when they came from behind twice to draw 2-2 at Leeds, with Josh Sonni-Lambie netting a sensational late equaliser.

Bridge-Wilkinson’s team are back on home turf on Saturday as they welcome Newcastle United to the Academy. Kick-off is set for 1pm BST and you can watch the game live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO.

Read on as Bridge-Wilkinson speaks to Liverpoolfc.com about the campaign so far and working with recent arrival Rio Ngumoha…

On the draw at Leeds and the character of his players…

It was a decent performance. Obviously it was disappointing to be a goal down twice with a couple of moments we could have stopped really. The lads showed great character and stuck at it, and I thought the performance was quite good in certain moments. But there is still lots to work on.

On Sonni-Lambie’s fantastic goal…

It was a lovely finish, a really nice turn in the box under a lot of pressure and a delicate and very precise finish. He’s got that in him, he can do that and we know that. What we need Josh to do is score the more simple goals inside the box and closer to goal. But we know what he can do.

On Ngumoha...

Rio has not been working with us an awful lot, to be fair, as he has been training with the U21s and we are still building him into the programme. He is a great kid, his attitude has been fantastic. He is obviously a talented boy and we are really fortunate to have him in and around the group on these matchdays.

On a tough start to the season…

Every day is a learning day. Results breed confidence and I think in time we will look back on this and we will have learned an awful lot. It might not feel that way at this minute, sometimes it’s tough to take the results we have been getting. Even though performances have been quite good, we have still come out with the wrong result. We’ve got to find a way of changing that. It’s not easy. We are trying to give the boys confidence but ultimately we’ve got to go out there and play with a little bit of purpose, a belief and a performance – and maybe a win at the right time will start that confidence. We’ve got to find a way of changing our fortunes at the moment and start doing the basics really well.

It’s as simple as going back to the most basic parts of pass the ball, receive it and quickly move it on. Defend our goal with everything – blocks, headers, clearances – and find a way to build the game in and around their box, and then hopefully get enough bodies in and around that we can cause them problems and score goals. It’s just about doing the simple parts of our game really well and really effectively and that will breed the confidence the boys can take forward.

On being back on the main Academy show pitch on Saturday…

It’s a great place to play football, it’s a special place and we are looking forward to the game against Newcastle United. As always, we are really grateful to get on the main pitch and let’s hope it’s a good one.