Down, up and back in second place for under-23s
There’s little you can do when your games are called off but when we last reviewed the Professional Development League three weeks ago our under-23s had dropped into third place behind Leeds United who also had a game in hand.
Third became fourth a week last Monday when Wigan moved ahead of us with a 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday but the Latics could do nothing about things two days ago when they had to sit and watch as both us and Leeds played. Leeds could only draw at Barnsley while we beat Crewe 3-0 at Gresty Road so that’s left a really tight fight for second place, and that’s some commendation for our team who have now recorded three consecutive clean sheets in league and cup despite fielding such a young team.
Nottingham Forest remain clear at the top. They had a big win at Bolton and now have 47 points. We are second with 41 and two points behind us come both Leeds and Wigan but Leeds do have a game in hand on the rest of us. Only Birmingham are close. They have 37 points but have played a game more.
Bolton, who have just four points from their 22 games, are almost certain to finish bottom. Who will take the next place? For some time it has looked as though it would be one of the Sheffield clubs who have swapped places on a regular basis, but Wednesday beat United last week and have now gone four points clear of the Blades and they’ve three games in hand on them.
Watford still lead the south group but things are much closer there too. They have a two point lead over Coventry while Millwall are just one point further behind. However, Coventry have a game in hand on Watford while Millwall have played one less game than Coventry.
At the bottom of that league, it is a case of two clubs swapping places. Both Colchester and Crystal Palace have 16 points from 21 games and currently Colchester are bottom courtesy of a much worse goal difference.
We are in cup action tomorrow against Blackburn at Curzon Ashton in what is now a dead rubber while we return to the league next Monday against Hull with this game originally also scheduled for Curzon Ashton but now potentially to be played behind closed doors at Gawthorpe.
The player featured is Ne-Jai Tucker who scored our second goal in Monday’s 3-0 win at Crewe.
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.
Recent results, this week’s fixtures, the leading scorers, our scorers and the current tables are all below.
RECENT RESULTS
Friday 21st February
Coventry 2 Bristol City 1
Monday 2nd March
Birmingham 1 Crewe 1
Sheffield United 2 Bolton 1
Wigan 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1
Cardiff 3 Watford 1
Coventry 2 Charlton 0
Crystal Palace 5 Colchester 1
QPR 2 Bristol City 2
Friday 6th March
Hull 0 Birmingham 2
Sheffield Wednesday 2 Sheffield United 1
Watford 3 Crystal Palace 0
Monday 9th March
Barnsley 1 Leeds 1
Bolton 0 Nottingham Forest 5
Crewe 0 Burnley 3
Cardiff 1 Ipswich 1
Colchester 0 Bristol City 2
Coventry 0 Millwall 0
THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES
Thursday 12th March
Charlton v Cardiff
Friday 13th March
Barnsley v Bolton
Birmingham v Sheffield Wednesday
Hull v Nottingham Forest
Ipswich v Millwall
Monday 16th March
Burnley v Hull
Sheffield United v Leeds
Wigan v Crewe
Bristol City v Coventry
Cardiff v QPR
Charlton v Colchester
Crystal Palace v Ipswich
Millwall v Watford
LEADING GOALSCORERS (League)
15: Sam Dalby (Watford)
14: George Alexander (Millwall)
12: Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest)
11: Joseph Hungbo (Watford)
BURNLEY’S GOALSCORERS (League & Cups)
10: Ali Koiki
6: Rob Harker
5: Joel Mumbongo, Lewis Richardson
3: Josh Benson, Joe McGlynn
2: Tunde Bayode, Mitch George, Bobby Thomas, Ne-Jai Tucker, Oliver Younger
1: Cricky Conn-Clarke, Anthony Glennon, Mace Goodridge, Adam Legzdins, Christian N’Guessan, Adam Phillips, Max Thompson, Scott Wilson
CURRENT LEAGUE TABLES
| Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | pts |
| Nottingham Forest | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 53 | 21 | 47 |
| Burnley | 21 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 41 | 21 | 41 |
| Leeds | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 40 | 18 | 39 |
| Wigan | 21 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 38 | 28 | 39 |
| Birmingham City | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 26 | 37 |
| Hull City | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 33 | 35 | 32 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 23 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 36 | 39 | 30 |
| Barnsley | 23 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 37 | 44 | 27 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 36 | 40 | 24 |
| Sheffield United | 25 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 32 | 48 | 20 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 22 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 16 | 74 | 4 |
| Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | pts |
| Watford | 23 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 52 | 37 | 41 |
| Coventry City | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 33 | 28 | 39 |
| Millwall | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 22 | 38 |
| Cardiff City | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 32 | 36 | 32 |
| Charlton Athletic | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 39 | 32 | 30 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 40 | 35 | 29 |
| Bristol City | 21 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 25 |
| Ipswich Town | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 31 | 36 | 23 |
| Crystal Palace | 21 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 27 | 38 | 16 |
| Colchester United | 21 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 29 | 51 | 16 |
Share this page :