U18s manager Adem Atay felt his side full deserved to win the Professional Development League Cup after a tough couple of years as scholars, the young Blues thrashing Coventry City 7-0 in the final at Portman Road this evening, the Sky Blues having been reduced to 10 men in the 13th minute.
"They fully deserve it,” Atay said afterwards. "For the whole nation it’s been a tough two years but these boys in the programme that they’re in, a scholarship programme, it’s been a tough two years.
"They got to the semi-final of the Youth Cup last year and had to play behind closed doors and they did so well last year without having facilities to use because of Covid.
"I feel this is just one big reward for them, to come through the programme that they’ve done and perform like they did tonight because it was a good performance, they fully deserved it. They’re a good group of boys and they deserve to enjoy this occasion.”
He added: "Our main focus before the game was to do things properly make sure on the occasion you enjoy it, perform right because there are watching people watching, from the manager [Kieran McKenna] to friends to families and it’s important that we come away from the occasion understanding that you’ve got to do a job, you’ve got to put a performance in.
"I felt everybody contributed, there wasn’t a bad performance from anyone. Really pleasing to see because it’s not often at youth team level that you can get a group of players that collectively perform on the night when it matters.
"Good experience for them, it’s a final, it’s a cup game and they’ve come through it, so very pleased for them.”
Atay says his side hadn’t previously had to play against a team with only 10 men for most of a match.
"I must admit we’ve probably not come up against that type of experience before,” he reflected. "I thought they managed it really well. Our principles and game plan didn’t change because of it.
"We get into half-time and everything was just around your mentality, make sure you do the right things for the whole game, don’t get complacent, stay disciplined, and the early goal in the second half flattens them anyway.
"They continued to do that and that’s why it ended up being seven as it was. Really pleased that they were able to do that in the second half.”
Looking back on the campaign as a whole, he continued: "Ultimately it’s about getting players into the first team, that’s our job here, and to make the first team better.
"It’s up to them now to kick on with this experience and try and progress through the age groups and make a mark in the first team if they can.
"In terms of a season, it’s been enjoyable, this is a nice reward for them. The league took a little bit of a hit but with one game to go they’re potentially finishing third. I just think this is something that they’ve fully deserved off the back of their last year’s experiences as well. They should go and enjoy this because it doesn’t happen often.”