Albion Under-21s are targeting their first win in the Premier League Cup group stage when they meet Coventry City on Friday evening (7pm).
The club’s academy hopefuls are yet to register a victory in either PL2 or its complementary cup competition, and after a string of frantic results to begin the season - they’ll be aiming to put things right on Friday.
But their opponents, the young Sky Blues, got off to a winning start in the tournament, beating Ipswich Town in the other Group H fixture last week, and should provide a stern test.
Last time out
Nathan Paul-Lavaly, George Evans and Jonathan Haftom provided the hammer blows in Albion’s PL Cup opener as they were beaten by Bromley.
Venue
The young Baggies head to the Your Coop Community Stadium, home of Leamington FC, on Friday.
The Brakes’ stadium holds 2,300 spectators.
Pre-match thoughts
U21s boss Leigh Downing has now seen his side play in all three academy competitions they’ll compete in across the 2026/27 season.
You’d say it’s enough to get a fair assessment of what he can come to expect from the young Baggies during the new term, and despite the disappointing early-season results, he insists there’s a lot to like.
Having scored seven goals across their last two PL2 matches, which includes a 4-4 draw with Derby County on Monday, Albion are firing in an attacking sense, and will need to bring their promising goalscoring displays to the PL Cup to stand a chance of making it out of the group stage.
And with the Sky Blues on the horizon, Downing has urged his side to “take the sting” out of matches they take the lead in, which will prove to be a valuable lesson as the youngsters aim to reach senior football.
He said: “We were disappointed not to have won the game on Monday. On the whole, we created lots of good moments, and when I watch it back I feel I’ll see loads of positives.
“Scoring four goals away from home, we looked excellent going forward. But at the moment when we concede a goal, it seems like we have a wobble and that’s something we need to put right.
“I’ve been saying to the lads at the end that ultimately, when you have a lead in the game, it’s the decision-making and game management to recognise when you need to take the sting out of the game. It’s important to know when you need to mix your game up a bit to play slightly longer, it’s important to do the good things and play our way through the pitch.
“It’s not about sitting back and inviting the opposition onto us, you want to create more and score as many goals as you can. However, some lapses in concentration and some poor decisions have cost us a game of football on Monday.
“We all know where we want to get to as individuals. Everyone wants to get into the professional game, and results become the most important thing about matches there. But if we have moments of madness in games, ultimately, that’s going to stop you from getting up the levels as they want to do.
“We’re very frustrated, but there are lots of good things in there still. If we were winning games of football and not playing well, I’d still be disappointed, but the fact we’re playing some really good football is very positive.
“I’m pleased for Jack Bray, who scored two, and I know when he gets on a roll he’s capable of finding form and can continue to score. Ollie Bostock scoring will only do his confidence the world of good.
“There were some great bits from Rio Parmar, Remar McNeil and Ryan Colesby when they came on too. It just wasn’t quite enough to get through the game on Monday.
“I’ve seen lots of positives across the competitions so far. We made a great start in the National League Cup, where we hope some of the lads can continue to put themselves in the shop window in terms of first-team exposure.
“We were disappointed about our showing in the Premier League Cup against Bromley. I didn’t feel we hit the heights of the performance level we’ve shown in recent weeks, and we’ll be looking to put that right on Friday against Coventry.
“To win the game we need to bring a lot of the positives we brought in against Derby in terms of the chances we created, the way we moved the ball and got shots away - it’s a group stage with six games in the PL Cup, so there’s always time to get back into the competition as we hope to do.”
How to follow
Supporters will be able to follow Friday’s tie across the club’s social media channels.
A match report and highlights will be available after the fixture.
