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Carlisle United urged to be at their best in FA Youth Cup test
Mark Birch has urged Carlisle United’s under-18s to be at their best tonight to upset Barnsley in the FA Youth Cup.
The second round tie this evening takes the young Blues to Oakwell (kick-off 7pm).
United are just one game away from a potentially eyecatching third round tie when Premier League clubs enter the competition.
But in order to get there, they must overcome a young Tykes side who put Carlisle out of the competition last season.
United will be underdogs against the League One hosts but under-18s boss Birch says the Cumbrians must make the most of this scenario.
“It can be a good thing because there's probably a little bit more pressure from within them [Barnsley],” said the coach.
“They'll be looking at Carlisle as a smaller club than them, where we're probably looking at a club like Barnsley as where we want to be realistically,
“But I'm a big believer of looking after yourself, looking after what you do. Let's prepare the best we can, let's bring to them the best version of our game and let's see if the best version of our game is good enough to impose ourselves on them.
“You can do all the analysis, all the prep, but you're never quite sure what teams at this level are going to have – so, individually, and as a team, let's put the best of us onto there and see if it's good enough to get a result.”
Carlisle earned their second round place with a 4-1 extra-time win at Altrincham in the first round, while Nicky Eaden’s Barnsley Under-18s defeated Oldham Athletic 6-0.
The second round tie is played at Barnsley's Oakwell (Image: Richard Parkes)
United head into the tie having drawn 1-1 with Burton Albion in the league on Saturday and, according to Birch, in good spirits, as they prepare to face a Barnsley side who won 5-1 at Brunton Park in the FA Youth Cup first round last season.
“We’ve tried to play it down since the Altrincham game, because we’ve had league games and a reserve game in the meantime, but there’s a good atmosphere amongst the players and I think they're all looking forward and ready to go.
“We’ve got a few little knocks and bruises, we're just waiting on a few players but we'll give them as long as we possibly can.
“The Altrincham game [United were 1-0 down until an injury-time Freddie O’Donoghue goal rescued the tie] reminded us about being ruthless and that's something we've got to learn.
“Barnsley are quite familiar – their set-up and how they operate is pretty similar to how they went about it last year.
“We know that they're going to have good players, and they've had players like us in and around the first team, but these are games you want to be you want to be involved in.
“You want to test yourself against good academies, against good , against good players. We know that, if we play well, we've got an opportunity of giving anybody a game.
“At the minute, hand on heart I don't quite know what I'm going to get at times – we've got a little bit of inconsistency about us but when we're on it we can be a very good side.
“Every match you play has got to be an occasion, but some are bigger than others. If these lads aspire to be professional footballers these are games you've got to come through.
“If they're nervous on the night, that’s ok, because you'll be better for it next time and, whatever happens, hopefully they can learn from the experience.”
United are aiming to reach the FA Youth Cup third round for the first time since 2020 (Image: Richard Parkes)
Carlisle’s squad will include some players who have made first-team debuts this season, such as O’Donoghue, Hayden Atkinson, Dan Hopper and Seb Mason, while some of the youth side will be involved in a second game in the space of two days, having been in the first-team squad for last night’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy trip to Morecambe.
O'Donoghue, who scored his first senior goal, was involved last night along with Hayden Atkinson and Jonah Lowes, the latter making his first-team debut, with Hopper an unused substitute at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium.
United have not reached the third round of the Youth Cup since 2020.
“That’s where we want to be,” said Birch. “It’s what the players want and as coaches, we want to challenge ourselves as well against the bigger clubs.
“It helps to highlight some of the good work that's going on not just with the team but in the whole academy as well.”
The Barnsley tie, meanwhile, is a poignant one given the close connections both clubs have with the late Barnsley-born former United youth coach David Wilkes, who died last year.
Birch said Wilkes would be on many minds again tonight.
David Wilkes (Image: Barbara Abbott)
“Within our club and what we do, Wilkesy's always on everyone's mind, even if it's just something silly that goes on that makes you remember Dave by,” he said.
“When we go to Barnsley, Dave will be mentioned we'll probably meet people that also know Dave as well as us.
“These things happen in football, ties like this, and it just makes you remember the good times with Dave. He should always be remembered for what he did in developing young players for Carlisle United.”
