Man City academy explain reason for latest 'disappointing' EFL Trophy exit

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Manchester City's summer business that brought in over £50m of academy sales has had a knock-on effect to the current under-21's progress in the EFL Trophy.

City's youngsters fell to a frustrating 3-0 defeat at Bradford on Tuesday to exit the competition that pits academy sides against EFL opposition at the group stages.

It is the third year in a row that City have failed to reach the knockout stages. But head coach Brian Barry-Murphy says the current group of academy players should not be judged against previous years as they are an almost-completely different squad.

Over the summer, City saw most of their title-winning players from the academy leave on permanent or loan deals, leaving a new cohort of players experiencing their first season with the under-21s. ALSO READ: Substance beats style as City handed cruel lesson to crash out of EFL Trophy Despite another disappointing EFL Trophy campaign, Barry-Murphy was looking to the positives - particularly for his defenders who conceded two identical goals to wily striker Tyler Smith - with the forward's hat-trick goal coming from a corner won after another direct ball down the middle to set him free. "In years gone by I'd say we absolutely deserved to win the game, but really it's good for our players to have that understanding of playing against a really experienced Championship striker, now playing in League Two," the coach told MEN Sport. "Knowing that while we're attacking and building up and creating good chances, in a quick transition with one pass he's in on goal. "We saw in the preparation how they do that, but actually dealing with it on the pitch is a different thing.