U18s Host Swindon in Youth Cup Friday, 26th Mar 2021 15:40 The Blues' U18s are in FA Youth Cup fourth round action against Swindon Town at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon (KO 2pm). The side coached by Adem Atay and Jason Dozzell reached round four by coming from behind to beat Premier League Fulham 3-2 in their third-round tie at home in December, having defeated Chelmsford 5-0 away in round two and prior to that Southend 4-1 at home. The competition was suspended due to the lockdown in early January but was given the OK to resume earlier this month. Atay says that Town go into this game viewed very much differently than they were for the Fulham tie. "Last time we were probably viewed as the underdogs, but today that's not the case. We must respect Swindon," he told the club site. "The message to our players is to treat every game the same, it doesn't matter what the badge looks like. Once the game starts there are 22 players on the pitch who should all be up for it. It is a different challenge for us so we must be ready. "The mentalitiy that we showed in the second half against Fulham was great so we will be looking at that as an example. All of these matches that are thrown up in the Youth Cup are different to what we have in our league programme. "It's about what we can do but we also have to be able to adapt to what challenges Swindon present. It's an opportunity for the lads involved and we want to get the job done." If the Blues win this afternoon, they will travel to wither Swansea or Middlesbrough in the next round with the winner of that tie taking on Peterborough, Sheffield United or Bristol City at home in the quarter-finals. As the tie clashes with the League One fixture at Wigan Athletic, Town are not streaming the game live as was the case with this season’s previous Youth Cup ties, however, Swindon are showing it on their YouTube channel. Town, who are are currently top of Professional Development League Two South, have won the FA Youth Cup on three occasions, in 1973, 1975 and 2005.
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