Young Terriers play at the John Smith’s Stadium in FA Youth Cup on Thursday
- Huddersfield Town Under-19s back in action on Thursday
- Young Terriers host Ipswich Town in the FA Youth Cup
- £5 Adults and £2 Concessions for the fixture
Huddersfield Town’s Under-19 side play at the John Smith’s Stadium on Thursday 1 December, when they welcome Ipswich Town in the FA Youth Cup; noon kick-off.
Our youngsters enter their FA Youth Cup at the Third Round just like our First Team do due to Town being in the Sky Bet Championship.
Ipswich Town were victorious over Bromley FC in their Second Round fixture last weekend in order to qualify for the Third Round tie against our Young Terriers.
Under-19s Coach, George Danaher, previewed this game:
George started by talking about how much the youngsters can gain by playing at the John Smith's Stadium in front of fans.
“Throughout the Academy, we try to provide the players with a large range of experiences.
“I think this competition is the first experience they come across that relates to a First Team game really.
“It will help them understand what it’s like to play in the stadium and, hopefully what it’s like playing in front of some fans and just help their overall development.
“I think playing in the stadium adds a bit of pressure, but as we all know in First Team football there is that pressure to win.
“The players that perform the best will probably deal with that pressure and make good decisions in high pressure moments. We will assess after the game on what they did right.”
Our Under-19 Coach explained how much the players look forward to playing in the competition.
“I think it’s a great competition that the lads look forward to every year.
“Somebody told me the other day that the Club hasn't progressed past this round in six years, so it would be a good achievement.
“It’s a competition that provides a different type of pressure and challenge and that is something as a Club and an Academy we like to do, give the players a really high challenge but then support them to help them develop and progress.
“However, I am under no illusion as a coach - my aim is to develop the players that are capable of playing in the B Team and then progress to the First Team.
“It has always been the goal to develop players to impact our First Team and that is something that I think our Academy players have done really well this season.
Danaher then touched on what training has been like while preparing for the FA Youth Cup game:
“Training has been good! The training ground has been quiet (with the First Team in Marbella) but it has allowed us to be able to prepare for the game properly.
“We have been able to do a lot of 11v11 tactical practices, which is something that helps before games.
“For me, the prep is always similar. We want to focus on ourselves, and want to show what we do everyday in and out of possession.
“We aim to obviously win the game, but to win the game in the same style and spirit we normally would.”
Finally George spoke about what he was expecting from Ipswich in this upcoming game.
“Ipswich will be a good side. From recent results they can definitely score goals.
“I think we’re in for a challenging game, but hopefully a game that the players can get through successfully.”
Supporters can attend the noon kick-off at the John Smith’s Stadium on Thursday 1 December to see how our Terriers of the future get on!
Adults - £5
Concessions - £2
If you cannot make the game, you can follow live match updates on our dedicated Academy account on Twitter - @htafcacademy!
