Elite Development Squad Lead Coach Ben Wilkinson says the players who won’t be on international duty will be hard at work at the City Football Academy in the wake of our 2-1 Premier League 2 defeat to Manchester United.
It’s been a busy start to the 2025/26 season for our EDS, who have played four games in 13 days.
Our young boys in blue have won two and lost two in all competitions and have been extremely demanding games for our depleted squad, with a handful of players out through injury.
But Wilkinson stated that he and the team will be hard at work over the September international break to fine-tune preparations before our UEFA Youth League opener against Napoli, but will also be mindful that rest will be just as important.
MATCH REPORT | United 2-1 city eds
And for those who travel to represent their respective nations, they’ll gain valuable experience that they’ll be able to bring back to the Joie Stadium.
“We’ve got half the group away and half the group here,” began Wilkinson.
“So we’ll get some good work in with the ones that are here. And keep an eye on the ones who are away, because hopefully they’ll play in some top international games.
“And obviously from a development point of view, you get some really good opportunities to see them under pressure like they were today.
“So it’s just about getting that balance right of work and a little bit of rest because the ones that have been with us since the start have had a really heavy schedule and even in the last two weeks we’ve had four games in 13 days and some tough games as well.
“So just getting that balance right between working and having a bit of a rest.”
Watch Wilkinson’s post-match reaction in full via the video above…