Wilkinson impressed by his players’ attitudes en route to PL2 summit | OneFootball

Elite Development Squad Lead Coach Ben Wilkinson says his team’s attitude has been the most impressive quality after we sealed the Premier League 2 top spot with a 4-0 win over Newcastle.

It was our 15th league win out of 20 games in a fight to qualify for the playoffs, with City also securing silverware by confirming our place at the league summit before our Round of 16 fixture.

It’s been an incredible turnaround in performances from our EDS side who were unable to make the top 16 last season.

Reflecting on the immense development of the squad over the past 12 months, Wilkinson was full of admiration for his youngsters.

“I think the attitude of the players, they've been really committed to improving, to learning, to wanting to do the work,” began Wilkinson when discussing what has caught his eye the most from the team.

“To being honest with what they've done. I think we've improved immeasurably in terms of defensively - if you look at the goals we conceded this year compared to last year, we are lot tighter as a team.

“We're a lot harder to play against and we've scored a lot of goals as well.

MATCH REPORT | CITY 4-0 NEWCASTLE

“So I think at both ends of the pitch, in both boxes, we've been really good. I think we're always good in the way we keep the ball in our box to box but I think we've been more ruthless in both boxes this year.”

The winner of the PL2 playoff will be determined via four knockout stage games.

For City, all of our playoff games could be on home soil, with our first seeing us take on the team who places 16th, which will be confirmed on Friday 18 April.

And whilst it’s a slightly unconventional way to decide a champion, Wilkinson and his team are looking forward to further opportunities to develop.

“We’ve had really good preparation for it,” said Wilkinson when asked about how his side will ready themselves for the upcoming game.

“If you look at the last few games in the Youth League and in this competition they’ve almost been knockouts anyway.

“So I think we know how to navigate these games and the sort of jeopardy that comes with them.

“It’s good in terms of it’s another really positive development in terms of what’s [riding] on the games so it will be another really good experience.”