Town U18s Manager Alan McLoughlin is looking forward to his side’s FA Youth Cup tie away at Salisbury next month but will be warning his players against taking the opposition lightly.
November 2016 at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium (7.30pm Kick-Off).rdThe young Reds will kick-start their 2016/17 FA Youth Cup campaign away at Salisbury on Thursday 3
“It is not too far to go and it is a nice stadium, great facilities, great staff down at Salisbury and I know Steve Claridge very well and we’ve been in touch many, many times,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk.
“They will be happy with the draw and they will quite rightly fancy their chances to turn us over and I would expect them to give us a really good game.
“I expect us to go in as favourites to win the game and that is no disrespect to Salisbury, but we have to go into the game believing we can win the game and get into the next round.
“That’s ultimately what we need to do.
“If we go there and execute a game plan and everyone is willing to partake in that, then I would expect us to go through and if we don’t then I’ll be really disappointed.
“Most of the team will be second-year scholars and only the first-years will play if there are injuries and that’s because I want to expose the second-year scholars to the competition and to the expectation of getting through this round.
“We won’t be underestimating the task at hand and, as a former player who has played in many of these cup games at youth level at Manchester United, I certainly won’t be underestimating it.
“We were expected to win and that wasn’t always the case. I certainly remember being beaten by Barnsley in an FA Youth Cup game and that was a big shock for us and a big shock for everyone, but not for Barnsley because they on the night worked harder, grafted harder and believed.
“If you turn up with a little bit of arrogance and expect to get through because it’s lowly old Salisbury, then you are going to get a slap in the face.
“I’ll be warning the players before the game and I expect them to turn up on the night.”
