Town’s U18s lost 3-1 in a friendly to Crystal Palace at a bitterly cold Playford Road on Saturday morning. Tom Winter’s first-half strike was cancelled out by three second-half Palace goals after a raft of Town substitutions at the break.
Blues defender Tommy Smith says he and his New Zealand team-mates will be out to exorcise the demons when they take on New Caledonia in Noumea in a World Cup qualifier on Friday, the Pacific Islanders having beaten the All Whites 2-0 in an Oceania Nations Cup semi-final earlier in the summer. Also in international action on Friday will be Josh Carson with Northern Ireland and Gunnar Thorsteinsson with Iceland’s U19s.