AcademyU18s update: Chelsea comeback, Manchester United challenge and more

Trey Nyoni pulled a goal back in the final 10 minutes of the tie at Cobham last Saturday to give the young Reds hope of a late turnaround.

Rio Ngumoha, playing against his former club, then netted a brilliant individual goal to level the score and Alvin Ayman scored a stoppage-time winner to seal a dramatic victory.

This Saturday, it’s back to U18 Premier League North action for Bridge-Wilkinson’s squad and a big test against second-placed Manchester United at the Kirkby Academy.

Kick-off is 11am GMT and subscribers can watch the game live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO.

Ahead of that encounter, read on as Bridge-Wilkinson speaks to Liverpoolfc.com about the win at Chelsea and opportunities arising for younger players…

On the memorable comeback versus Chelsea…

It was really pleasing. The lads didn’t give up, kept going, and I thought we performed really well, especially the second half, and we were really grateful to get the goals we got at the end and managed to win the game.

On a wonder save from Kornel Misciur at 2-0 in the tie…

It was a big moment in the game. That’s what Kornel is there for, we know what he is capable of and he came in to our squad and added something extra on the day and we are really pleased for him.

On Ngumoha’s first goal for Liverpool…

That was good. He is understanding more and more now and the more we see of him the more he improves, and ultimately that is what we are after. Barry [Lewtas] and the U21s staff who he is working with most of the time are doing a fantastic job with him.

On Ayman’s winner, also his first goal for the club, after returning from injury…

It was really nice for him. He worked his socks off and he was really tired at the end, that was his first 90 minutes for us. When we got towards the end of the game, Alvin looked like he had ran out of steam but still managed to get in there and get the winner. It looked like a simple goal but the run to get into the right area ahead of the defender, he deserves a lot of credit for that.

On Joe Bradshaw’s contribution so far, being the top scorer with 11 goals…

We’ve used Joe off the left, off the right and down the middle and he is comfortable in all those positions. He is progressing well. He has had a nice season so far.

On the challenge of facing Manchester United…

It’s going to be tough. They are a good side and they will come here expecting and wanting to win. For us, we will put a team out and we expect and want to win just the same, so it’s going to be a really good game, a big game, a game that all the boys should want to play in and hopefully one we can be really proud of at the end.

On the importance of staying focused for the entire 90 minutes in big games like this…

We will do everything we can to make sure that if there is a fine margin then we are on the right end of it. We want to work hard and we want to be difficult to break down, difficult to beat and ultimately find a way to have an effect on their penalty box and goal.

On results being mixed due to injuries and players moving up to U21 level…

We can’t use that as an excuse because what that does is gives players an opportunity. Most of the boys in our squad have had opportunities to play games and opportunities to take a shirt and try to keep it. Where it can be hard at times is there can be a lack of consistency and relationships on the pitch aren’t quite as strong as perhaps they can be. Ultimately it’s all about an opportunity for boys to go out and play, whatever the team is and whoever is playing, they need to perform on the Saturday.

There’s always movement after Christmas with the transfer window now shut and players moving up to U21 level and then training with the first team. We will back up those groups when we can and when we need to.