Under-23s drop to third despite Barnsley win
Burnley’s under-23 team kicked off the week in second place in the Professional Development League, trailing Nottingham Forest and ahead of Crewe Alexandra and Hull City on goal difference, but, despite winning our game against Barnsley in a Monday afternoon fixture at Curzon Ashton, we’ve dropped to third after the week’s games have all been played.
We made our way home from the Barnsley game having moved to the top of the league. a point clear of Nottingham Forest but we knew that might only be for around five hours. That proved to be the case as Forest beat Wigan that evening and then today, it’s down to third with Crewe going above us on goal difference following a big win against Sheffield United.
That third place is secure for next week at least. Only Hull could potentially go above us but they would need to win, us lose and they would need to turn round the goal difference with us currently on plus seven and Hull on minus four.
Last night, Bolton’s first team won for the first time this season and it followed their under-23s first victory of the season on Monday evening when they won 4-2 at Sheffield Wednesday. It’s still not close to lifting them off the bottom; they were their first points of the season and the closest teams to them are the two Sheffield clubs who both have five points more.
It’s got a bit closer at the top of the south league where Watford went to the top a week ago. Second place Coventry won an outstanding north v south game at Wigan last Thursday two move within two points of Watford and it was all square when the pair met at Coventry on Monday.
Colchester’s climb off the bottom lasted all of one week with Ipswich picking up a point against QPR to go back above them on goal difference; Colchester were beaten 2-0 at Cardiff.
Away from the league, the one outstanding game in the first round of Premier League Cup games was played with Blackburn moving ahead of us to go top of Group G.
This week it is all league games with us travelling to Leeds on Monday evening, the game being played at Elland Road. With the two teams above us playing each other, we can guarantee moving up at least one place should we win.
The player featured this week is central defender Teddy Perkins who made a return to the team this week after not having featured in almost a year. He had an excellent game alongside Scott Wilson at the back.
The League Tables and the Premier League Cup Group Tables are updated as results are confirmed and can be found with our Fixtures & Results within U23/U18 Stats on the top menu.
Last week’s league and cup results are all below followed by this week’s league fixtures, the league’s leading goalscorers, our goalscorers and the current league tables.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
Thursday 17th October
Wigan 0 Coventry 3
Friday 18th October
Birmingham 3 Leeds 0
Monday 21st October
Burnley 2 Barnsley 1
Nottingham Forest 1 Wigan 0
Sheffield Wednesday 2 Bolton 4
Colchester 0 Cardiff 2
Coventry 1 Watford 1
Crystal Palace 1 Charlton 2
Millwall 3 Bristol City 0
QPR 1 Ipswich 1
Wednesday 23rd October
Crewe 5 Sheffield United 1
PREMIER LEAGUE CUP
Thursday 17th October
Crystal Palace 1 Blackburn 3
THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES
Friday 25th October
Watford v Colchester
Saturday 26th October
Hull v Sheffield United
Monday 28th October
Bolton v Wigan
Crewe v Nottingham Forest
Leeds v Burnley
Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley
Cardiff v Crystal Palace
Charlton v Bristol City
Ipswich v Coventry
Tuesday 29th October
Millwall v QPR
LEADING GOALSCORERS (League)
8: George Alexander (Millwall), Elliot Simoes (Barnsley)
7: Joseph Hungbo (Watford), Ali Koiki (Burnley)
6: Sam Dalby (Watford)
5: Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest), Reece York (Sheffield United)
BURNLEY’S GOALSCORERS (League & Cups)
7: Ali Koiki
4: Lewis Richardson
2: Rob Harker
1: Tunde Bayode, Mitch George, Adam Phillips, Bobby Thomas, Scott Wilson
CURRENT LEAGUE TABLES
| Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | pts |
| Nottingham Forest | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 20 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 14 | 18 |
| Burnley | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 18 |
| Hull City | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 15 |
| Wigan | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 13 |
| Birmingham City | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 12 |
| Barnsley | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 21 | 12 |
| Leeds | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 11 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 8 |
| Sheffield United | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 22 | 8 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 3 |
| Team | pld | w | d | l | f | a | pts |
| Watford | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 15 | 19 |
| Coventry City | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 17 |
| Millwall | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 13 |
| Charlton Athletic | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 12 |
| Cardiff City | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 12 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 10 |
| Bristol City | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 10 |
| Crystal Palace | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 8 |
| Ipswich Town | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 19 | 7 |
| Colchester United | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 19 | 7 |
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