Wanderers U18s enjoyed a fruitful September, winning three and losing one of their four fixtures in the Academy league.

In the last update, we reported that they had recorded their first victory of the season against Sheffield United, and now Peter Farrell's side have followed that up with another two successes against Sheffield Wednesday and Everton. The only blip was a 3-0 reverse against Sunderland.

Looking back on the last few weeks of football, Farrell said: "The defeat against Sunderland was just a poor day. Everyone didn't perform and it was a game that we have put to one side and have tried to forget about. But I think the lads have learnt from the mistakes that they made and we moved forward and had a good week in training.

"Everyone worked hard and then we played Sheffield Wednesday the following Saturday and won 2-1.It was an encouraging performance and result, and then we played Everton last weekend and won 5-4.

"That was a very entertaining game, but our players did exceptionally well because Everton fielded Jose Baxter and another couple of players who had first team experience. We were 2-0 down, went ahead 5-2 and then we hung on at the end - it was pretty nerve-wracking and I was shouting at the referee asking him how much time was left!

"But the lads did brilliantly because they battled right to the very end and their attitude and commitment was fantastic. The way that we approached the game was the most impressive element because Everton are a physical team and we matched them. It was played on a small pitch so it was more of a competitive game and I thought that technically we were superior.

"It was pleasing to see five different goalscorers - Javlon Campbell, Tom Eckersley, Graeme MacGregor, Liam Irwin and Maison McGeechan - because that had been one of the worrying aspects of our performances. What we have got to work on now is the defensive side of things and look to be keeping more clean sheets.

"Going into October, I'm happy with where we are at. We've had three wins, two defeats and a draw, and are four points behind Blackburn, who are top of the league. It's a good achievement considering last season that we struggled a little bit. Hopefully the foundations are there to push-on and try and finish in the top three, but as I say, everything is very positive at the moment."