City’s Under-21s resume our PL2 campaign on Monday night with a trip to take on Stoke City in a game that will be shown live on CITY+ (19.00pm UK).
PL2 champions for the past three seasons, the City youngsters will kick off in the Potteries in the unfamiliar position of propping the table after what proved a challenging and often frustrating first half of the campaign.
A very young and largely inexperienced squad were hit hard by injuries to several key players while performances weren’t always rewarded by results.
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For Hamilton however, the advent of the New Year is a chance for City to reset and refocus with the winger, who was elected captain of the squad at the start of the season, eager to lead from the front.
“I’m one of the older ones in the team and I want to be setting the example by leading the guys and you know, showing them how it’s done and how we can look to get better,” Hamilton said.
“I would say that I’m more of the one that leads by example with the way that I play, and I like to go get the team going from what I do on the pitch.
“So far, I’ve really enjoyed the role and I really appreciated being made captain at the start of the season and hopefully the lads know I am there to help them in any way.
“I’ve been through a lot with injury over the past 18 months.
“So if so if any player needs anything from me, they can ask any anytime whether that is an arm round their shoulder or any tips or advice.”
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With still 10 games to go, the City youngsters still have ample time to really hit the stride and look to cement a top 16 finish which would see us qualify for the play-off system initiated as part of a new-look league format this term.
And for Hamilton - who made a sensational first team debut, scoring away at Red Star Belgrade last month - patience and a sense of looking at the bigger picture will be the key guiding principles for the City squad over the second half of the campaign.
“Football is about dealing with the highs and the lows,” Hamilton added.
“It’s about not getting too low on the lows and too high on the highs and for us the message is its not how you start, it’s how you finish.
“Brian has been saying to us after games that a lot of the time we’re doing well.
“So, I mean I feel like we’re doing well in lots of areas and we’re implementing things from training.
“It’s just like focusing on the little things, the errors that we need to cut out during games and I think we’ll be fine.”
Our PL2 clash at Stoke kicks-off at 19.00pm (UK) on Monday evening with live coverage on CITY+ getting underway shortly before hand.
