Academy Manager previews Fulham test
Huddersfield Town’s Under-18s face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Tuesday in the Sixth Round of the FA Youth Cup.
Town defeated Manchester United 2-1 in Round Five and Academy Manager Mark Lillis expects an even harder game against Fulham:
“It’s a great achievement getting to the last eight, but we want to take the next step and get to the last four,” he said ahead of the team's trip to London. “It’s going to be a tough test as I think they are the best team we’ve seen this season.
“I went to watch them against Manchester City and their front four forwards are really exciting. I’ve been to see Reading and Liverpool, as they are possible semi-final opponents if we get through, and Fulham are definitely better than those.”
The U18s did superbly to get to the Sixth Round and Lillis knows that it will take a special effort to make it to the semis.
“We’ve got to make sure we have no regrets. There will be a good amount of fans and families going down to the game. If the lads turn up and put a performance and a shift in, with a little bit of luck we could get through.
“In the Manchester United game all of the players put in a performance and showed the fans what they do. Hopefully we can take that performance down to Craven Cottage.”
The players will be staying overnight in London on Monday, an experience they enjoyed when they played QPR in the league.
“It was a bit strange for them at first,” said Lillis. “We try and run things as similar to the First Team as possible. The pre-match meals, what time they eat and what time they train are more or less the same. We are trying to run it alongside that so it’s not a shock mentally when they get a chance.”
Despite the players’ success in the cup, Lillis already has one eye on the league this weekend.
“We’ll be on at them because we have a tough game on Saturday in the league and we want to win the league like the U21s have. That’s in the future though, and we’ve got the FA Youth Cup tie to focus on and we’ll do that.”
Huddersfield Town will run a supporters coach to the match at Fulham’s Craven Cottage on Tuesday 18 March; 7pm kick-off.
The coach will depart PPG Canalside at noon on the day of the game, with seats priced at £21 per person.
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