Swindon Town U18's Boss Alan McLoughlin says that he and his players are relishing the chance to pit their wits against Nottingham Forest this weekend.
After beating Newport County and Northampton Town in the opening two rounds of the FA Youth Cup, the young reds are preparing to host Forest in the Third Round at The Energy Check County Ground tomorrow.
"They are a very good side, a Category Two team and they've got far better resources than us in terms of staffing, facilities and probably the amount of contact time they have with their players as well," McLoughlin told swindontownfc.co.uk.
"We'll embrace it, we'll take it in our stride and we've earned the right to be here.
"Nottingham Forest are a very competent, well-drilled team with some exceptional players but we'll just do our best.
"As long as the players do their best then I'll be happy.
"I know what to expect from the players, I know what they need to execute on the day and we've talked things through.
"It has been a bit of a disappointing week for us in terms of our preparation because we had to go and play Southend U23's on Tuesday, and then the first-team needed five of my players for training on Thursday.
"My plans to go through some team shape only happened this morning and it is not ideal preparation to only have one training session.
"We crack on and we look forward to the game tomorrow.
"It is such a memorable occasion and the boys will remember playing Nottingham Forest here at The Energy Check County Ground.
"We look forward to it, we embrace it and hopefully we'll give a good account of ourselves."
And Macca believes that the fact his side have already played at SN1 twice this season will only stand them in good stead on Saturday.
"I think it will," he added.
"They are familiar with the environment and the first-team are away so I'm hoping that fans will want to come out and support their young players.
"We work very hard and we do a good job throughout the whole Academy.
"This doesn't just represent the U18's on Saturday - it represents the whole Academy."
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