U18s midfielder Jacob Davenport has been a fan of City since a young age and his dreams came true last summer when he was offered a two-year scholarship.
Fast forward six months and Davenport is a key cog in the wheel of a City U18s team that could win the Barclays U18 Premier League North Division, an achievement that would rank as the ‘best thing that’s happened yet’ - according to Jacob.
“It would mean everything to win the league this year as a first-year scholar, and with the team I have supported my whole life. It would be the best thing that’s happened yet.”
The young Blues have four games left in the league, starting with this weekend against second place Everton, and the youngster is eager to set the record straight after losing to the Toffees in the reverse fixture.
“I’m really looking forward to the game. It’s the biggest game of the season so far because we’ve already met them and it was one of our worst team performances, to be honest. We’re looking to get one back on them and it will be a very important win, if we do.”
Three points at the CFA against Everton would move them six points clear of the blue half of Merseyside, but City have played two more games than them.
When asked about speculation about results with games in hand compared to points on the board, Davenport stated that the latter is the most important at this point in the campaign but believes that City should be focusing on themselves – rather than looking at who is doing what behind them.
“I think having the points on board, rather than the games in hand, are more important at this stage. We need to concentrate on ourselves, not looking behind at the other teams. We’ve got four games left and they’re all cup finals. If we win all four, that should put us in a good place.”
Jason Wilcox’s side moved to the top of the tree for Christmas with an exciting 3-2 win over Stoke in December, with the game seeing Davenport being named as captain and the 17-year old described the occasion as ‘something special’.
“The feeling of being captain against Stoke in December was unreal. As a first year, I’ve not expected to get as much game time. To be captain, of the team I support, was something special.
“The game was a massive win as well. We went 1-0 down and then brought it back late on, but conceded again but we showed the character to get the win. It set up this Everton game nicely.”
We’ll have live updates from the top-of-the-table clash against Everton on our official Twitter account @MCFC, as well as a match report on mcfc.co.uk shortly after the full time whistle.
