The young Blues make the relatively short trip to the Potteries to face Stoke City on Saturday knowing that a win would secure the group win and progress into the national semi-final play-offs.
There is just one point between City and Blackburn Rovers in second place, which means that of all the various result permutations a win for the Blues would make victory for Rovers’ away to Manchester United irrelevant.
Should they progress, City will face one of the other academy league group winners – Newcastle United, Leicester City or Southampton.
Stoke’s Under 18s are on a three-game unbeaten run, and one player City will have to look out for is lively striker Karim Rossi, who proved to be a handful at times when the Elite Development side defeated Stoke’s reserves last week.
However Jordi Hiwula could have a big say in affairs, gaving bagged 25 goals in all competitions for both the Under 18s and the EDS this season.
