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Young Clarets take trip to Merseyside for re-arranged fourth-round tie

2022-01-18T13:29:05.094Z

FA YOUTH CUP PREVIEW: LIVERPOOL V BURNLEY

Young Clarets take trip to Merseyside for re-arranged fourth-round tie

2022-01-18T13:29:05.094Z

Young Clarets take trip to Merseyside for re-arranged fourth-round tie

U18s manager Tony Philliskirk says his side are looking forward to their trip to Liverpool on Tuesday night in the fourth-round of the FA Youth Cup.

Burnley progressed to this stage with a 3-0 victory over Luton Town at the County Ground in Leyland last month, while the Reds defeated Fleetwood Town in similar fashion.

The young Clarets got their first taste of action in 2022 last week as they lost out 2-1 away at Manchester City, last season’s league winners, despite a battling performance throughout which was rewarded by Ruairi Behan’s late goal.

And having had to push their trip to Merseyside back by 11 days after Liverpool were forced to shut their academy facilities down due to a COVID outbreak, Philliskirk believes his players are ready for the challenge.

He said: “After the initial Youth cup tie at Liverpool was postponed, we’ve just been waiting to play a game to be honest, so the 90 minutes [against City] was much needed after the Christmas break.

“We’re really looking forward to the Liverpool game now – and beyond – because the run of fixtures which we have now is absolutely unbelievable.

“We’ve played City, now we have Liverpool, and then we play Blackburn [Rovers] twice back-to-back who are top of the league at the moment.

Report from our U18s last game of the season

“This is why we went up to Category One academy status though, it’s what it’s all about. We want our players to test themselves against the supposed best players, so this next few weeks is a great period for the lads to be involved in.

“Regardless of who we’re playing though, our group have massive hearts and I truly believe that we will give absolutely anybody a game.”

Tuesday’s meeting with the Reds – who also lost out 2-1 to the Citizens in their first action of the new year - provides Burnley with an opportunity to go up against an opponent who got the better of them exactly one month ago.

In U18 Northern Premier League action at Gawthorpe, Liverpool – sitting third in the table at the time of writing – scored three times in the last ten minutes to extend the scoreline to 5-0, giving the game a more comfortable look from a visiting perspective than the 90 minutes may have suggested.

Burnley boss Philliskirk spoke after that game about how lessons could be learned in defeat, saying: “We will analyse this league game and learn from it ahead of the cup tie, but it’s not tough to analyse that at some points today, we were the victims of our own downfall.

“They punished little mistakes from us quickly, and that’s what happens when you come up against the elite clubs.

“Today was a real learning curve, but I strongly believe that it wasn’t a 5-0 game and in truth, I think for a lot of it we performed well as a side.

“If we can perform like we did in the first 65-70 minutes today and stay in the game during the cup tie, then anything can happen.

“As a dress rehearsal, it’s shown us as a group where we need to be to compete with Liverpool when the cup game against them comes around.”

Scheduled to kick-off at 7PM on Tuesday, January 18 – and as with all of their matches this season - coverage of the young Clarets’ trip to Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup will be provided on Twitter via @ClaretsAcademy.