Under-18s “will give everything” in FA Youth Cup clash, promises Chaplin

Under-18s captain Archie Chaplin believes our youngsters will need to be sharp in both penalty boxes if we’re to get past Brentford in our first game in this season’s FA Youth Cup on Tuesday night (7pm UK).

Entering in the third round as usual, we travel to take on the Bees at Staines Town’s Wheatsheaf Park, where we’ll be looking to avoid a repeat of last season’s extra-time defeat to Queens Park Rangers at the same stage of the prestigious national youth competition.

For 18-year-old centre-back Archie, now in his third season in the Under-18 group after making his debut as a schoolboy in 2021/22, it’ll be important to maintain focus in all areas of the pitch if we’re to keep up the levels of form that have seen us rocket to the top of the Under-18 Premier League table this term.

“From an individual and team perspective, we’re going to approach this game like any other and we’re going to give everything we have when we’re on the pitch,” he said.

“We need to make sure we take our chances, defend our penalty box and dominate both on and off the ball.”

Various fixture alterations and the international break have meant we haven’t had a competitive Under-18 game since a 4-1 win at Leicester City on 11 November, but Archie doesn’t believe we’ll show any signs of rust when we face Brentford.

“It won’t affect us,” he said. “The way we train every day is at a high intensity with good quality so when it comes to the game, we all expect and demand high standards of ourselves.

“It would mean everything for us to have a good run in the FA Youth Cup, so I know I speak for the whole squad when I say we’re going to give our all to get through this first game.”

Be sure to follow our new Academy social media channels (@Spurs_Academy on X and @spursacademy on Instagram) on Tuesday night to keep up to date with the action.