Manchester City youth boss Jason Wilcox has urged his side to prove a point at Stamford Bridge, by beating Chelsea and winning The FA Youth Cup.
The young Blues find themselves 3-1 down after the first leg at the Academy Stadium and Wilcox knows his team have a lot to do if they are to prevent Chelsea retaining their title.
But knowing the qualities which his team possess, Wilcox believes they are more than capable of turning the tie around by scoring the first goal of the night.
Chelsea v Manchester City
Chelsea lead 3-1
FA Youth Cup Final Second Leg
7.45pm, Monday 27 April
Stamford Bridge
Live on ITV4
“We’re going down to Stamford Bridge and I think that anything can happen there,” said the former Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United player.
“I think if we get a goal then we’ll see what character they’ve got.
“At 3-1, we’re still in the tie. We’re obviously disappointed. We would have preferred a 2-1 but we are most definitely still in the tie.”
Wilcox says the first-leg scoreline flattered Chelsea, after a strong second-half performance saw them put their visitors under real pressure.
But Joe Edwards’ side defended stoutly before adding another goal to their advantage courtesy of Dominic Solanke’s late strike on the counter-attack.
“I said to the boys that we’ve now got to go to Stamford Bridge knowing that we outplayed Chelsea at times in the first leg,” added Wilcox.
“I thought it was all us in the second half and that gives us confidence going into the second leg.
“It’s all to play for and by no means will they think it’s all over.
“So it’s going to be an interesting tie. We have to dust ourselves down and go again.”
“It is a great opportunity for our lads to express themselves”
Jason Wilcox Man City U18s manager
One thing which Wilcox and his squad are looking forward to is playing at Stamford Bridge, with a big crowd set to attend with the hope of seeing the hosts lift The Cup.
And that playing in that sort of atmosphere is exactly what Wilcox wants to expose his squad to.
“It is a great opportunity for our lads to express themselves,” he said.
“We can’t wait to test ourselves again against a quality side and at Stamford Bridge.
“We’ve got players who can score goals, but the difficulty in playing Chelsea is that we have to keep a clean sheet and if we keep a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge, I think we have every chance.
“We’ve got goals in us. It’s going to be difficult, of course it is. But we have to go there positive.
“No way are we going to lie down.”
