The U18 Wanderers travel to Bristol City this Saturday as they look to get their first points of the Professional Development League season at the Robins High-Performance Centre.
The home side come into the fixture following a 2-0 defeat to Barnsley last weekend, where a close-range header from Charlie Rodgers and a powerful near-post strike by Seb Zaszloz, after a superb individual run into the box, were enough for the Tykes to secure all three points.
The result leaves Bristol City 14th in the league, and they will be hoping to climb the table with a positive result on Saturday. Despite the defeat, there were certainly glimpses of quality from the Robins throughout the game. Their biggest issue appeared to be a lack of a finishing touch in the final third as chance after chance failed to find the net.
That was a problem shared by Wanderers last weekend, with the Whites also creating opportunities but ultimately lacking that final bit of quality in front of goal.
The U18s head into the fixture following their first defeat of the season since making the step up to Category Two, but there is little reason to dwell on the result.
Cardiff proved clinical when their chances came after the break, but the Whites imposed themselves on the game, particularly towards the end of the first half. Without some excellent saves from Bluebirds goalkeeper Joshua Donovan, the scoreline could have looked very different at the interval, with the game potentially having been out of the visitors’ reach.
An effort from the edge of the box by skipper Samuel Hopkinson just evaded the target before Donovan got down smartly to divert a Sonny Coyne strike that looked destined for the bottom corner. Coyne would eventually get his reward, though, as moments later he tucked one away calmly past the helpless keeper, sending Wanderers ahead at the interval.
However, a one-goal lead can be a dangerous one, and Cardiff eventually equalised when the visitors’ captain Thomas Prickett capitalised on a scramble inside the box to prod the ball home, swinging the momentum firmly in the visitors' favour. Two further goals followed as the match became increasingly stretched, putting the game beyond Bolton’s reach.
Both Wanderers and City will therefore be looking to bounce back on Saturday, with both sides eager to put their opening defeats behind them and produce a positive performance.
For the Whites, it will be another opportunity to show what they can do at Category Two level and build on their encouraging aspects of their display against Cardiff, while Bristol City will be determined to turn their promising moments from their defeat to Barnsley into points.
With both teams looking to make their mark early in the campaign, Saturday's clash at the Robins HPC promises to be an intriguing encounter, as Bolton and Bristol City continue to establish themselves in the Professional Development League.