Birmingham take top spot in under-23 league
Crewe Alexandra played Birmingham City yesterday with us knowing that a result either way would see us drop a place to third in the Professional Development League.
A draw would have seen us remain above Crewe on goal difference and a point ahead of Birmingham but for either side, a win would take them to the top of the northern group, ahead of leaders Nottingham Forest and ourselves with neither of us having played in the last week.
A Miguel Fernandez goal won it for Birmingham and that’s taken them to the top but by the narrowest of margins; they lead Forest on goals scored. We are just one point behind but it has to be noted that Forest have two games in hand on both of us.
Barnsley could have joined the top two on 21 points yesterday but were beaten by Leeds who were recovering from their cup defeat of the previous week while the other two games in the northern group both ended in draws. Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan took advantage of the international break by playing their game on Saturday while the final game of the week was played last night and gave Bolton just their fourth point of the season from a 3-3 draw against Sheffield United with Bolton’s third goal coming deep into stoppage time.
In the south, Watford have had their lead cut to just five points after they were beaten by a Charlton team who are currently in the best form of any team. They’ve moved up to third but Coventry, winners at QPR last Friday are now within five points of Watford with two games in hand.
The top two in the north both have an opportunity to extend their leads this Friday with both playing ahead of the other fixtures. Birmingham are at home to Hull while Forest entertain bottom club Bolton. We play on Monday against Crewe and we must start winning more games if we are to stay up there to try and get a top two finish. Unbeaten we may be, but only the bottom three have won less games than us.
The player featured this week, and rightly so, is goalkeeper Adam Legzdins who stepped in last week for the Premier League Cup game against Crystal Palace and scored our equaliser late in the game after coming up for a corner.
The League Tables are updated as results are confirmed and can be found with our Fixtures and Results within U23/U18 Stats on the top menu.
Last week’s results, this week’s fixtures, the leading scorers, our scorers and the current tables are all below.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
Friday 15th November
Hull v Nottingham Forest – match postponed
QPR 1 Coventry 2
Saturday 16th November
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Wigan 1
Monday 18th November
Bolton 3 Sheffield United 3
Crewe 0 Birmingham 1
Leeds 2 Barnsley 0
Charlton 3 Watford 0
Crystal Palace 1 Bristol City 2
THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
Thursday 21st November
Ipswich v Colchester
Friday 22nd November
Birmingham v Hull
Nottingham Forest v Bolton
Monday 25th November
Burnley v Crewe
Wigan v Leeds
Cardiff v Charlton
Coventry v Colchester
Crystal Palace v Millwall
Ipswich v Bristol City
QPR v Watford
Tuesday 26th November
Sheffield United v Sheffield Wednesday
PREMIER LEAGUE CUP
Tuesday 26th November
Exeter v Doncaster
LEADING GOALSCORERS (League)
9: George Alexander (Millwall)
8: Joseph Hungbo (Watford), Ali Koiki (Burnley), Elliot Simoes (Barnsley)
7: Sam Dalby (Watford)
6: Max Biamou (Coventry), Miguel Fernandez (Birmingham), Reece York (Sheffield United)
5: Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest), Lewis Walker (QPR), Jake Young (Sheffield United)
BURNLEY’S GOALSCORERS (League & Cups)
9: Ali Koiki
4: Lewis Richardson
2: Rob Harker, Joe McGlynn
1: Tunde Bayode, Josh Benson, Mitch George, Adam Legzdins, Joel Mumbongo, Adam Phillips, Bobby Thomas, Scott Wilson
CURRENT LEAGUE TABLES
| Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | pts |
| Birmingham City | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 11 | 21 |
| Nottingham Forest | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 21 |
| Burnley | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 12 | 20 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 21 | 19 |
| Barnsley | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 26 | 24 | 18 |
| Hull City | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 18 |
| Wigan | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 20 | 17 |
| Leeds | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 15 |
| Sheffield United | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 12 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 23 | 10 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 31 | 4 |
| Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | pts |
| Watford | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 19 | 25 |
| Coventry City | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 20 |
| Charlton Athletic | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 18 | 19 |
| Millwall | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 15 | 17 |
| Cardiff City | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 16 |
| Bristol City | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 20 | 14 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 22 | 13 |
| Ipswich Town | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 10 |
| Colchester United | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 23 | 10 |
| Crystal Palace | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 8 |
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