A Prince Henry hat-trick and a Duncan Idehen header ensured that Bristol City ran out 4-0 winners over Millwall in the Professional Development League.
The Robins struck twice in each half at the Robins High Performance Centre, with Henry twice tapping in from close range to ensure the hosts took the lead into the break.
It was defender Idehen who met James Morton’s free-kick to power a header into the Millwall net, before Henry wrapped up his treble with a curled left-footed finish.
City didn’t have the first team names of Nahki Wells or Danny Simpson to call upon but the young side defended resolutely at times to leave a normally threatening Lions side blunt.
Morton reminds every one of his qualities
The forgotten man at City in recent years, James Morton certainly should be playing senior football somewhere and that was demonstrated once again today.
Operating at the base of midfield, in a role not to different from that of Joe Williams against Middlesbrough, Morton managed to repeatedly find time and space on the ball to express his excellent range of passing.
His delivery created three of the four goals for the Robins today and on a different day it could well have been a couple more as the Reds didn’t always make first contact.
Morton was expected to join MK Dons in the summer before the deal fell through after Russell Martin joined Swansea, but if he can continue to showcase his abilities at under 23 level a move fit for all parties should be easy to find.
Henry lives up to FM wonderkid status
Anyone who’s played a Football Manager save with Bristol City will know about Prince Henry and he certainly showed why he always seems to do so well on that game today.
It wasn’t the most breathtaking hat-trick, with the combined distance of the first two strikes likely to be less than a few feet but it showed the forward’s ability to pop up in the right place to convert.
At only 18, Henry is still very much a raw talent but has a number of characteristics that suggest he could have a bright future in the game, hopefully with the Robins for years to come.
McAllister in attendance
There was fair crowd in BS8 with a number of the players families being present in the High-Performance Centre’s stand and one of those was former player and assistant manager Jamie McAllister.
The 43-year-old made 183 appearances for the Robins as a player, also a period as under 23s coach a stint as Lee Johnson’s assistant manager so has plenty of connections still to the west country.
Nothing connects him more than his son Reuben who is a part of the Robins academy set-up and the ex-Sunderland assistant could be seen at the HPC talking to now incumbent of the second in command seat Curtis Fleming after full-time.
Towler put through his paces
Centre-back Ryley Towler hasn’t been seen since his first Robins appearance this season against Millwall in January, with Pearson saying he’d been ruled out with injury.
Over on one of the practise pitches at the HPC the tall figure of Towler could be seen running with the ball at his feet with a coach and another player who looked like George Tanner (although, admittedly, they were a long way away).
With both players on their way back from injuries - in Towler's case a back problem, while it's a hamstring for Tanner - it could suggest that they’re not far away from being back within first team training, a welcome boost as City attempt to strengthen their leaky defence.
No first teamers, no problem
Against Cardiff a few weeks ago there were appearances for Nahki Wells, Danny Simpson and Ayman Benarous, but with the first team in action tonight it was down to the genuine under-23s.
It didn’t seem to matter as City were the better side for almost the entire 90 minutes and while the likes of Morton and Henry starred there wasn’t a single poor performance from the Young Robins.
With a small first team squad and a number of injuries, the under-23s aren’t at full strength themselves, not that you’d know it based on today’s display.
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