Emilio Lawrence says he was always confident his thunderous strike, City’s second in our 2-1 win over Reading, was always going to find the back of the net.

The victory at the Joie Stadium saw City overcome the Under-18 Premier League South side to advance to the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup.

Jaden Heskey gave Ben Wilkinson’s side the lead inside 10 minutes before Lawrence doubled City’s lead in the 19th minute.

And the winger explained how his strike showcased City’s hard work at set pieces.

“Yeah I’d like to say so,” said Lawrence when asked if he always knew his shot would ripple the net.

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“From corners we do a lot of short corners, we like to work the opposition and get them in one-v-one areas because we back ourselves to beat the opponent.

“And that’s what I did, I took him on and saw the goal and just shot and it went in.”

City Under-18s already know who we will face in the quarter-finals; we will welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Joie Stadium.

And after the heartbreak of City’s semi-final dismissal at Arsenal last season, Lawrence is hoping the team can make amends from last season’s defeat.

“Last year hurt a lot but it just makes us more determined to go win it this time round,” said Lawrence.

“Like I said before I think we’re more than capable of doing it. We’ve definitely got the player so hopefully we can just keep turning up and win it.”

Watch Lawrence’s full post-match reaction in the video above.