Dominic Solanke targets second successive FA Youth Cup title

The England U18s striker scored a late goal in last week’s first leg to earn Chelsea a 3-1 lead ahead of the return fixture at Stamford Bridge.

And after netting two goals in last year’s Final against Fulham, the 17-year-old is setting his sights on a consecutive Youth Cup title and a fourth from the last six seasons, highlighting a competition which is held in high regard at Chelsea’s Cobham academy.

"All of the boys growing up watched The FA Youth Cup and it was something that I always wanted to win," admitted Solanke.

"When you look at the players like Josh McEachran and Nathaniel Chalobah winning it previously, it was an inspiration to us and a great way for the club to compete against the rest of the country. 

"It’s been a great tournament for the club and the players and to win as many as we have has been a good achievement for the academy."

Chelsea are not taking anything for granted though, knowing that Manchester City can soon turn the tie around at Stamford Bridge if they are given the chance.

But with a sizeable crowd expected in west London, the Reading-born starlet is hoping that can help inspire them to victory.

Solanke in action for England U18s earlier this season

"It will be nice to have a big crowd behind us because that helped us in last year’s Final, when we had a difficult task to come from behind to beat Fulham," he recalled.

"The crowd helped us then and that was amazing so hopefully we can get as many people down to the Bridge as we can for the second leg and they can help us win the game.

"I think we’ve got a good lead – we knew we’d be facing a strong team and we would need to play our best but to have a two-goal lead going into the second leg means we’ll be going into the game with confidence.

"We’ve both scored a lot of goals in the tournament and we know that they’ve got a real threat going forward. 

"They were missing a few big players in the first leg so if they come back into the team for the second game, they will be a real threat, so we know that the tie is not over yet."