After three superb goals secured victory for our Under-18s over Leicester City at the weekend, coach Stuart Lewis spoke about the progress being shown on an individual level by all three scorers.

Luca Williams-Barnett stole the headlines with another incredible strike from inside the centre circle – the second time he’s done that in three games, following a similar effort in last month’s match at West Ham – which came less than 48 hours after he was named on the first team bench away to Galatasaray in the Europa League.

But Tynan Thompson’s long-range goal also caught the eye, as did Jun’ai Byfield’s tidy footwork and close-range finish which completed a memorable 3-1 win.

Stuart was pleased with the contributions of all three players and revealed how Luca has also conjured up some similarly audacious efforts in training while continuing to work on his overall game.

“Luca’s bravery and courage with the ball has been on show throughout the season and some of the individual moments he’s shown have been excellent,” he reflected. “He hasn’t just done that in games, he’s also done it in training a couple of times so it’s definitely not just a one-off, but it’s down to us to keep supporting him.

“He’s obviously had a positive week, having travelled with the first team to Turkey which was an unbelievable experience for him and a real positive for us as an Academy and his family too. But the most impressive thing that Luca has worked on I think has been his all-round game – his reactions, his off-the-ball work – and that’s been as big a plus as all the goals and assists. His pressing, his attitude and reactions have been, if you like, just as important as the goals because you can’t just teach that sort of thing and it’s been really good to watch him develop.

“We’ve been working hard with Tynan on that side of his game, too, in terms of scoring goals. He’s another player who has got undoubted ability and really improved his all-round game and his habits without the ball. I thought he deserved that goal against Leicester, we’ve really been working with him to be positive, to back himself and take his shots and I was really pleased for him personally. It was another step in the right direction and we’ll continue to challenge and support him going forward.”

Our third goalscorer Jun’ai is, like Luca, also still a schoolboy, with Stuart going on to explain: “With his defensive performance, I thought Jun’ai showed a real edge to his play and his display along with the others at the back was the foundation of our win, so he deserved that moment. He showed that he used to play as a forward in his younger days when he showed that composure in the box, so it was a really good performance from him individually and again, he’s another player who is developing really well in our programme and we’ll continue to support him and push him on to the next level.”