Fri 20 February 2015, 18:06
Tottenham HotspurKieran McKenna has urged our Academy players to avoid an FA Youth Cup hangover in Saturday’s Barclays Under-18 Premier League clash with Fulham.
We host the Cottagers at the Training Centre – kick-off 11am – off the back of another fine cup performance at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday evening, the 2-1 win we claimed at the City Ground sending us into the competition’s semi-finals.
Now, though, our youngsters must refocus on domestic duties, with Under-18s Coach Kieran looking for an improvement on last weekend’s league defeat at Reading – a match which also followed directly on from an FA Youth Cup tie.
“It’s a game that we need to make sure we approach properly,” warned Kieran. “The last performance in the league after a really good FA Youth Cup showing wasn’t at an acceptable level so it’s really important now that the players who play again after Wednesday night understand that you’ve got to be able to play two or more games in a week and perform at a consistent level.
“It’s up to the boys to approach the game well and put on a performance matching what they produced on Wednesday night, while it’s up to those who didn’t play at Forest to come into the side and make an impression.”
Having emerged victorious by the odd goal in five at Fulham’s Motspur Park earlier in the season, Kieran expects another tight contest in the reverse fixture this weekend.
“We had a couple of cracking games last year and we had a very competitive match earlier in the season where we won 3-2, so we know them quite well,” he added. “It’s another London derby and another game that we’re looking forward to.”
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