Fulham Under-21s Assistant Head Coach Andrew Joslin was pleased with the character of the players after our Young Whites came from a goal down to defeat Leeds United 2-1 at Motspur Park.
The lads suffered an early setback, conceding after just five minutes to a Josh McDonald goal, but Hayden Mullins’ side proved that they have spirit in abundance, coming back to secure a valuable three points, which saw us rise to second in the PL2 table.
“After being 1-0 down at half-time, the character of the lads was impressive,” said Joslin. “The level of the performance was much more like us. The reaction of the players in the second-half and the way they went about their business in the second 45 was pleasing, with some good individual performances in there too.
“Credit to Leeds, they made the game difficult. They came with a really clear plan and they had clear ideas on how they wanted to play. We did our due diligence on them leading into the game and we knew it’d be tricky.
“They were young, full of energy and that caused us some difficulties in the first-half, but our messages were pretty simple. Hayden was clear to the lads in what we needed to do. A lot of it was about going back to basics; making sure we outrun the opponent and win our duels. We were a little bit loose in the first-half. We showed quality in the first-half but didn’t take the chances that came our way. We knew if we did the basics well, we’d get chances in the second-half.”
Callum Osmand was the hero on the night, bagging a brace to take his tally for the season to eight. The players at the top end of the pitch are really stepping up for the Young Whites at the moment.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi registered an assist against Leeds, following up on his double in the 3-1 win over Sparta Praha in midweek, while Terrell Works, who also scored in that Premier League International Cup victory, is causing plenty of problems for opposition defences with his silky dribbling and quick feet. Our U21s have scored 35 goals in 15 matches across all competitions this season.
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“The front three are all contributing in different ways and what’s most pleasing is their level of work and their attitude to what the staff are asking of them on a daily basis,” said Joslin. “They’re all good young men, good young professionals.
“They judge themselves by the number of goals and assists they get on a Friday and a Tuesday but we also hold them to account for the professional habits they’ve got – and they’ve all done really well. They all look like they can hurt opposition teams, which is really pleasing.”
It's another quick turnaround for the lads, with a short trip to Woking up next in the National League Cup. Having taken three points from our opening two games in the competition, only a win is likely to do to keep our hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive, which Joslin believes will add some extra spice to the fixture.
He said: “It's another different competition. We played in the International Cup on Tuesday, PL2 on Friday and then National League Cup next Tuesday. There’s a real diversity in the programme and that’s what we want to expose the boys too. We don’t want the games to be similar, we want difference. The lads will have their eye on qualification and that’ll be a motivation going into the game.
“We were pleased with the performance at Wealdstone [2-0 win] in the last game. That was a really good night for us as an Academy, stepping up against good opposition. We expect a tough game against Woking and with the possibility of still qualifying, it brings a bit of added spice to the game.”
