Excited For The Next Round, Says Barradell
- Leicester’s Under-18s defeat Wolves 3-1 in FA Youth Cup
- The Foxes will feature in the fourth round after win at Aggborough Stadium
- City’s youngsters will take on Sheffield Wednesday in the next round
- Coach Adam Barradell commends the resilience of the team
Level at the end of 90 minutes, it wasn’t until extra-time that a winner was decided in the third round matchup between Leicester and Wolves in Kidderminster.
Amani Richards and Ben Grist scored the decisive goals, after a first half equaliser from Jahmari Lindsay cancelled out the hosts opener from Temple Ojinnaka and coach Barradell shared his thoughts on the dramatic win following the full-time whistle.
“I’m super proud of the team, they’re a close-knit group and that was translated on the pitch,” he told LCFC.com.
“There are areas we want to develop and improve; We need to manage the game better in situations, like when we were 3-1 up, but it's a night to look on the positives and we look forward to the next round.
“We’re delighted to get through, we always knew playing Wolves was going to be a tough game, and that’s exactly what it was. It went back and forth throughout the evening, but I thought our win was thoroughly deserved in the end.
“To be honest, I thought we might have won it in normal time, we were that much on the front foot. But in extra-time, the lads were outstanding. The energy, positivity, belief, and desire through the team was excellent.
“We got to the quarter-finals last year, and we challenged the boys to try and replicate or go even further this year. That’ll be a tough task, but we’re looking forward to it, and tonight, the resilience of the boys was impressive.”
A player who didn’t get on the scoresheet, but certainly left an impression on the game was midfielder Will Alves. The coach praised his performance but was unable to provide an update after the playmaker was forced off deep into extra-time.
“I thought Will [Alves] was outstanding," City's coach explained. “To play for the First Team the night before (against MK Dons in the Carabao Cup Fourth Round) was a great opportunity for him.
“He’s been involved a lot with the Development Squad, and training with the First Team, so you can really see how much he’s grown as a second-year scholar.
“It’s really pleasing to see the excellent performance he put in tonight, despite the unfortunate event towards the end of the game. The medical staff are looking at the situation, but there’s no update at the moment.”
Barradell was pleased to end the calendar year on a high and outlined the importance Wednesday’s result could have on the rest of their campaign, starting with an U18 Premier League South Division match against Brighton & Hove Albion at LCFC Training Ground on Saturday 7 January (11am GMT kick-off).
“The lads have got a bit of time off, then we’re back in next week," he revealed. “We’ll look forward to the second half of the season, where we want to improve on our performances, but also our league position.
“At the moment, we’ve just been missing the final parts of our game, but we’re certainly a better team than we’ve shown in the league so far this year, so hopefully this can be the catalyst for the second half of our campaign.”