The Academy youngsters fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat in our semi-final encounter with the London side in the Under-17 Premier League Cup on Tuesday evening.
And despite the U17s’ dismissal from the competition, the head coach was proud of his players and the talent they demonstrated in a game that was decided by fine margins.
“I really liked the way we approached the game,” said Wilkinson.
“I thought the intensity, the energy and the commitment the players gave was fantastic. It was a really good game between two, for me, of the best sides in the country in this age group so it was always going to be decided on small details.
MATCH REPORT | CITY 2-3 CHELSEA
“And yeah I thought we had more than enough of the game, lacked a little bit of quality in our end product in the final third, I thought in the first half we could have been a little bit better with the final ball, but overall I thought the performance was really good.
“And yeah we just lost the game on a couple of small details that the players need to learn from and grow from and hopefully improve.”
Frankie Runham gave City the lead in the first half before Matty Warhurst drew City level on 50 minutes.
Ryan McAidoo restored the visitors’ lead in the latter stages of the second half before Ollie Harrison converted a penalty.
Reigan Heskey’s 89th-minute strike was not enough to send the game to extra-time.
But Wilkinson’s Under-17s showed they are capable of playing any level of football for the Academy in the closely contested clash.
“We know that between the ages of 16 and 18 we have a really strong pool of players,” began Wilkinson.
“And we’re confident any one of those players can go and perform at the level that we need them to so I think tonight was further example of that.”
