Norwich City Under-18s officially get their 2020-21 U18s Premier League campaign under way as they host West Bromwich Albion at Lotus Training Centre on Saturday (12pm KO).
Officially starting the 2020-21 U18s Premier League season on home turf at the Lotus Training Centre, the young Canaries will be hoping to carry their pre-season fortunes over into their first competitive game of the campaign.
Steve Weaver’s U18s side looked back to their best in their pre-season fixtures against Wroxham FC and Cambridge United U18s after a six-month absence from the pitch, taking a 4-4 draw and a 4-1 win respectively.
On top of this, several players have made cameo appearances for David Wright’s U23s team in previous weeks, including their 3-2 win over Plymouth in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday evening.
City weren’t alone in taking a win against senior opposition however, as West Brom U21s also took a 3-2 win over Swindon Town in the EFL Trophy, with a selection of their U18s also making the starting line-up and bench.
U18s midfielder Eddie Jackson says he’s raring to go for the first game of the season, especially after getting some time on the pitch as a sub in the Under-21s 3-2 win over Plymouth in the EFL Trophy.
“We’re pretty excited for the first game, we beat them last time and the last time we played a league game was nearly seven months ago, it’s been a long time. The boys are buzzing and hopefully we can get off to a good start.
“I played 20 minutes against Plymouth last week, which was a great experience and hopefully I can take that to the 18s games this season, it’s good to be getting as much experience as I can.”
Looking back on the last fixture, Jackson didn’t want to give too much away with their plan for success but added he’s hopeful for a win regardless.
“It was a comfortable game, we’ve looked at what formation they might play and how we can try to overload them in certain areas to exploit that. We think we can get some success like we did last season, I just hope we can keep that going into this game!”
Following government guidelines, no spectators will be permitted to attend any games across the Academy season for the time being, however any changes will be communicated accordingly.
You can follow all the action of the game on our dedicated Academy Twitter account.