U18s Report: Aston Villa 1 Leicester City 1

- The young Foxes rounded off their 2015/16 Barclays U18 Premier League campaign with a hard-earned point 

- Layton Ndukwu was on target for City from the penalty spot 

Leicester City’s Under-18s rounded off their productive Barclays U18 Premier League campaign by battling to a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa on Saturday 30 April. 

The young Foxes faced Villa for the third time this campaign having beaten them 3-2 at Bodymoor Heath in October, before a 1-0 defeat at Belvoir Drive in February. 

It was England youth international Layton Ndukwu who would fire City in front on Saturday, but Villa replied to ensure the game would finish 1-1, as the young Foxes stretched their unbeaten run to four games. 

“It was a really good game,” Under-18s manager Trevor Peake said. “Both defences were really on top the first half, so there wasn’t too many chances. 

“Sim [Thandi] got himself forward well at right back and earned a penalty. Layton [Ndukwu] took it and gave us a 1-0 lead. 

“There wasn’t too much separating the two sides, so it was a really competitive game and while they went on to score with around 15 minutes to play, we managed to earn a draw, which meant we finished second in our group. 

“They had a couple of players that had already played for the Under-21s who were trying to get their fitness up, so it proved to be a really good test for our team. 

“Aston Villa were in our original group, so we had already played them twice this season already. We beat them away, they beat us at home and now we’ve drawn, so it’s been interesting to see how we’ve coped against them. 

“We had quite a young side out, with Sim starting and a couple of others. From what we’ve seen, we’re really excited with lads who are going to come up and join our Under-18s – they’re a group of really hard-working players.” 

With youngsters gradually moving up into the Under-18s, a number of players have made the step up into the Club’s Development Squad, providing them with some valuable experience ahead of next season, according to Peake. 

He continued: “Since Christmas, we’ve supplemented many positions for the Under-21s with the lads who have come up from the Under-18s, and it’s great to see the lads make that progression – that’s been very pleasing in the last few months. 

“The experience they’re gaining now will hopefully serve them well when they come to play a full season for the Under-21s next year.”