Mansfield Town under-18s will look to build on their opening day win against Bradford City when they host Huddersfield Town under-18s this weekend.
Nathan Caine’s first-half penalty was enough to earn the young Stags all three points away from home last Saturday.
A young back four, which included under-16 right-back Taylor Anderson, managed to keep the Bantams at bay in the EFL Youth Alliance League opening fixture.
This Saturday, Mansfield’s young guns will host Huddersfield Town in their first home fixture of the 2020/21 league season.
The amber and blue last faced Huddersfield Town in August 2019, a game the Stags won 2-1 away from home.
A stunning late comeback saw Mansfield snatch the three points, courtesy of goals from Joshua Scott and Jimmy Knowles.
Under-18s’ coach Mike Whitlow (above) hopes that his side can carry aspects of last weekend’s performance into Saturday’s clash against the Terriers.
“Training has been really good this week,” he said. “It’s all been pleasing since last weekend but as we know, football doesn’t stand still.
“We move on to this weekend now, and we’ve asked for much of the same in terms of quality, development and how they learn from the game.
“Winning games is great, but standards, performances, we want to demand that every game.
“Huddersfield are total football. They’ll be big, powerful, strong lads. I’ve watched the video of their game last week and they move the ball very, very well.
“It’s a challenge again. There’s not a lot between the teams in this league. Whoever comes and turns up on the day is going to get the result.
“We just hope we can carry last Saturday through to this Saturday, give a good account of ourselves and go off that pitch knowing we’ve given everything we can.”
