“We deserve to be here” – Wayne previews huge play-off final against Sunderland
Sun 26 May 2024, 10:06|
Tottenham Hotspur
Under-21s Coach Wayne Burnett wants his players to call on all their strength and character for one last time this season in today’s Premier League 2 play-off final against Sunderland at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (3pm UK, live on SPURSPLAY).
Wayne has spoken all year about the spirit the team has shown as we stayed unbeaten in all competitions against Under-21 opposition until February, including winning our opening 11 games in the Premier League 2 en route to finishing top of the table in the league phase of the campaign.
Having navigated our way past tricky ties against Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea in the play-offs to determine the overall winners of the competition – the latter two at our world-famous N17 home – Wayne hopes his players can summon up one last top performance on the big stage to see off a tough Black Cats side and end the season with some silverware.
“We obviously finished top of the league, we’ve now got to the final and I think we deserve to be there,” said Wayne, whose side also reached the Premier League Cup final 10 days ago, only to crash to an uncharacteristic defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage. “We’ve played some really tough games against Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea, we’ve done it through real hard work, we’ve shown outstanding character and mentality at times and we’ve got some very good players alongside that.
“We love playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – it’s an amazing venue, it’s our home stadium and it’s a privilege to play there. The players thrive on the occasion and atmosphere, and the support we’ve had has been excellent – we can’t underestimate the importance of that. We’re just really excited. It’ll be a tough game but hopefully we can get the support behind us and give them something to cheer about.”
A handful of Under-21 regulars were part of the first team squad that travelled to Australia for a post-season friendly against Newcastle United this week, but Wayne says all roads now lead to this afternoon’s contest in north London.
“The group has been good this week – we’ve trained as normal, preparing as we normally do and getting ready for the game. It’s been a slightly unusual preparation for some of them but it’s been consistent for the remaining group. What a fantastic and brilliant opportunity it was to go and play and represent our first team – I’m really proud of that – but all our focus and energy is now towards Sunderland.
“We've know it’s going to be a really tough game, they’re very hard-working with some very good players. We’ll have an idea of how they’ll play, they’re very aggressive, on the front foot and they play some decent football so we’re expecting a difficult encounter.”
Today’s match is live on SPURSPLAY – sign up now, if you haven’t already, to enjoy all the action from just before 3pm UK.
