With just three games left of the 2020-2021 season, Norwich City U18s travel to Tottenham Hotspur Training Ground to take on Spurs on Tuesday afternoon (2pm KO).
The young Canaries have slipped down to ninth in the U18 Premier League table after West Brom’s recent 3-1 over Spurs saw them overtake City by a point.
However, the U18s have two chances to take back eighth-place in the league as they have two games in hand over the Baggies. Better yet, a win over Spurs on Tuesday could see City climb into seventh over Arsenal, who sit two points out of reach with 31.
After their loss to West Brom, Spurs find themselves fifth in the league table with 34 points. It’s a tight battle for the higher positions in the league, with Aston Villa, Spurs and Chelsea all battling it out for a fourth-place finish.
The young Canaries last played Spurs earlier this season in a 2-0 loss at the Lotus Training Centre after goals from Tarrelle Whittaker and Kallum Cesay.
Despite their loss to Reading on Saturday, the young Canaries could leave the pitch with their heads held high after coming close to salvaging a point in their 3-2 result against the Royals.
City went 3-0 down by the 61st minute after Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan’s early finish and Benjamin Purcell’s free-kick brace, but the Canaries fought back to make it 3-2 in just two minutes thanks to Alex Matos’ well-taken strikes.
The young forward thought he’d found his hat-trick and the game’s leveller with his curled effort through a crowded Reading box, but the linesman’s flag was raised as the goal was chalked off.
Speaking after the game, U18s captain Brad Hills said that the team could take plenty of lessons from their loss and was proud to see his teammates giving all they could to get the draw until the final whistle.
“I think it’s a lesson for all of us, when decisions don’t go our way, everyone shouts at the referee, sometimes you’ve just got to get on with it. Referees aren’t going to change their decisions, so there’s lessons to learn from this game.
“We didn’t play the way we wanted to in the first half, we didn’t get the ball enough. Soon as we played our way in the second half, we shake them a bit and they’re all over the place and we’re on top of the game.
“We give it our all, Ships [Lewis Shipley] was down the left-wing putting in crosses as a centre-back in the last minute of the game. We worked our socks off, gave it our all, but it’s just one of them days.”
You can follow all the action of the game from our dedicated Academy Twitter account.