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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Joe Bray

'We're not afraid' - Man City academy are one game away from making Premier League treble history of their own

With every passing game, the T-word is being bandied about outside the Etihad with increasing frequency.

Pep Guardiola might not want to talk about the Treble until it's only one game away from becoming a reality, but that won't stop the Manchester City fans, pundits, journalists and rivals from discussing the possibility of City becoming just the second side to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in one season.

Doing so would be the crowning achievement of City's project since 2008, and certainly since Guardiola arrived in 2016. However, even if there isn't a senior treble arriving at the Etihad, there could be a treble-double secured at the ground tonight.

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With the Elite Development Squad winning the Premier League 2 for the third year in a row, the youth team have won the Under-18 Premier League North Division for the fourth year in a row. With the 2020 season curtailed, City have been crowned U18 National Champions for the last two years and can make it three in succession when they take on West Ham at the Etihad tonight.

Add the senior Premier League, and City could achieve an unprecedented treble-treble, but until Guardiola's side do their part, it's up to Ben Wilkinson's youngsters to cap off a mightily impressive season on the first team's stomping ground on Wednesday evening.

"We've been working all season to get to this point," says a confident Nico O'Reilly - scorer of 10 goals and provider of 11 assists in his 19 league appearances.

"It was good to lift the north title but the main focus is always the national final. We've won that one but without this next one we haven't really won the overall league.

"It would be good to finish the job. The EDS have done that, the first team are on the right path. We did it last year, all three groups won everything, it would be good to do it again, that's our motivation."

City secured the title with 12 straight wins, in a wider run of two defeats in their last 22 - one in the Youth Cup and one on the final day after the title had been won. While O'Reilly and his teammates are confident on the back of that form, head coach Wilkinson is more interested in how his side respond to an incredibly tough challenge against Southern champions West Ham, who earned the same amount of points as the Young Blues and won the Youth Cup with a 5-1 win at City's semi-final victors Arsenal.

"They're a very strong opposition," he warned. "They won the Youth Cup final 5-1 and the semi-final 6-1. Add to that playing at the Etihad, competing for a final and a Premier League title, it will be an evening that stretches everyone, and an evening when we'll learn loads.

"It will tick a load of boxes. It's another really good opportunity to see how our lads perform and cope under a higher pressure environment."

If City can lift the National title, they will have won both Premier League academy titles for the last three years. Wilkinson insists his coaching staff are not thinking about any such records - but admits that the club's hierarchy should be incredibly pleased with how the academy is continuing to produce quality players and silverware to match.

"From the academy's point of view, it would be a remarkable thing to achieve. We can be excited about the prospect of trying to achieve that," he said.

"I don't think it's ever been done where one team has won both in a season. So to have the opportunity to do it for the third or fourth year in a row will be something quite special. It's a testament to all the people who've worked here over a long period of time, who have crossed paths with these players. To even be in the position to achieve that is something everyone should be really proud of.

"The people sitting down at the top looking down at the success over the last three to four years and the success had by the teams can be really proud of the structure they put in place 10-12 years ago. The kids that are winning things now are boys who started in this programme when they were 5-6 years old and have been all the way through.

"Those people can be really proud of the journey the players have been on and how the players have turned out in terms of their technical, tactical, physical level - and how they've turned out as young men. From the academy point of view, that's something they can look at and be really proud of and think they've done something right. The challenge is to keep that going, evolve it, and stay present and try and keep ahead of the chasing pack."

While City are 90 minutes from history on Wednesday, Wilkinson continues to think long-term, acknowledging that the game will play a role in determining how the young players continue their journeys through the academy.

"In any league the best team wins the league, the manager [Guardiola] says it a lot. To come top after 24, 38 games, indicates you're the best team," he explained. "I always think in one-off games you can win or lose depending on many small details as we found out at Arsenal [losing in the FA Youth Cup after 120 minutes].

"But it goes back to the point that we're in a development environment, and while we're in that development we want to expose the players to as many of those high-pressure moments where you have to perform. From that point of view, it gives us another really valuable learning experience to see where the boys are at and whether they'll go on to the next stage of their development next year and jump up to the U21s or maybe for some they want first-team football or stay in the U18s."

Before that, though, is West Ham, as the majority of these young players make their Etihad debuts. If they can leave with another trophy to complete another academy clean sweep, they will write their names in club - and Premier League - history.

"West Ham beat Arsenal in the Youth Cup but we're not afraid of them and we're looking forward to it," said O'Reilly, setting the tone for a tantalising battle between the two best youth teams in the country, with far more than a league title on the line.

Get your hands on our 48-page souvenir United v City FA Cup Final print supplement by clicking here.

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