Elite Development Squad Lead Coach Ben Wilkinson says his team are ready to fight one last time in 2024/25 as we take on Southampton in the Premier League 2 play-off final.
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EDS & Academy
Watch our Premier League 2 final live via CITY+ this Thursday](https://www.mancity.com/news/eds-academy/premier-league-2-final-cityplus-promotion-63883418)
We welcome Southampton to the Joie Stadium for a 19:15 (UK) kick-off on Thursday 22 May in what is the final game for the EDS.
To get to this point, City have fought off tough opponents in Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United in the play-offs.
And in turn Wilkinson’s side have progressed to the final for the first time since the competition’s restructure in 2023/24.
Ahead of the showpiece, Wilkinson provided his thoughts on what he expects from our opponents but also what fans can look for from his team on Thursday evening.
“They’re [Southampton] a really dangerous team, they’ve got some really good individual players and a really talented coach who we know will play in a certain way,” said the Lead Coach.
“And they’ve scored a lot of goals on their run to the final. they’ve got some really good attacking players.
“So they’re in this final on merit for sure and they’ll pose us a lot of problems and hopefully we can impose our game on them and limit their opportunities as much as we can to achieve a positive result.
“Hopefully from us you’ll see something similar to what you’ve seen all season in the style with and without the ball and just a real fight and commitment to the team in terms of working for each other and doing everything we possibly we can.
“Which is something I think we’ve really stepped up this season.”
Watch Wilkinson’s match preview in full via the video above...