Albion Under-21s travel to Manchester United for their next match in the Premier League 2 on Friday night (ko 7pm).
Lots of football has been played by Richard Beale’s boys over the last week, but they’ll be putting all of their efforts into getting, what would be, a precious three points in this last match prior to the upcoming March internationals.
Last time out
A cagey affair in the previous league game ended in a 1-0 defeat for the young Baggies against Everton.
Coming into it off the back of 120 minutes the previous Friday following their PL Cup knockout triumph over Cardiff City, Albion’s 21s were unable to replicate their success against the Toffees - with an awkward corner kick beating goalkeeper Ben Cisse in the first 45 to decide the contest.
Venue
Leigh Sports Village stadium plays host to the 21s’ next PL2 match.
It’s the same venue where Albion Women played their Adobe Women’s FA Cup clash against United at back in January.
Pre-match thoughts
Richard Beale is keen to see his players respond to recent defeat by claiming another scalp against a top side under the Friday night lights.
It wasn’t for the want of trying against the Toffees on Monday evening, with only a fortuitous corner kick finding itself through the Baggies’ young defence to decide the contest.
As a result of this fact, Professional Development Phase boss Beale is far from worried about his team’s ability to respond to this recent setback.
Instead, he’s focusing on the positives ahead of their matchup in Manchester; including the U18s who featured in the PL2 team, going head-to-head with United, and the desire to combine his squad’s desire to reach first-team levels with pushing for the top 16 spots in the standings this season.
“We were unlucky not to get something out of the game on Monday night,” said Beale.
“We huffed and puffed, didn’t create loads but had a few opportunities that, on another day, if we had put away would’ve made it a different game.
“The goal we conceded last time around was disappointing from a set play, and whether it was a push on our goalkeeper or not, these things happen and we lost the match off the back of that.
“But the effort from the boys, and especially those that played 90 minutes on top of 120 the previous week, was absolutely fantastic.
“Kudos to them but as I said to the lads after the match on Monday, that’s only what they’re going to have to do if they want to become good footballers.
“Don’t get me wrong, they’re all good footballers but to be a good professional and to maintain those levels for a long period of time in order to have a career in the senior game, they need to be able to go again quickly between games as they have done recently.
“We’ve brushed ourselves down after that defeat and are now really looking forward to Friday’s match against Manchester United.
“We talked about not putting any form of weakened team out when we made changes in the week by putting some of the U18s in, and we meant that.
“Those lads were in on merit and they’ve done really well in the FA Youth Cup this year and showed against Everton with their performances how well they can handle the step up to 21s level. For them now, it’s about getting to the next level.
“The focus is never away from trying to get players into the first team. Around the team, though, of course it’s nice that at this point in the season there’s still stuff to play for.
“Competitions such as the Premier League Cup - it was nice to be in the quarter-final draw for that - and then, focused more around Friday’s league game, we want to try and push into the top 16 so we can get into the PL2 play-offs.
“Being in that extends the season, provides us with more competitive matches to develop the boys and learn, and the top 12 isn’t out of the equation either and that would allow us into the European competition next season.
“So, there’s still lots to play for, but the focus is always on making the boys better as footballers, humans, and getting them closer to senior football.”
How to follow
There will be live updates across our social media channels for Friday's PL2 match against Manchester United.
The game will not be streamed live by the home side.
The full report, reaction and highlights from the match will be available on the website following the full-time whistle.
