LARRY McAvoy has hailed Millwall under-18 side’s “great achievement” in reaching the FA Youth Cup semi-final – but insists there is “great belief” they can go one step further and reach the decider for the first time in 30 years.
McAvoy, who is in joint-charge alongside former Tottenham Hotspur defender Chris Perry, says the win over Youth Cup kingpins Chelsea on penalties in the quarter-final means they can go to Elland Road to face Leeds United next week with confidence.
Leeds beat Liverpool 3-1 in the last eight, though the Reds were missing a number of players who were on duty with Jurgen Klopp’s senior side in their EFL Cup final win over Chelsea a few days earlier.
The Lions last reached the final in 1994 when they lost to Arsenal.
“We’ll approach it the same as [the win against] Coventry, go up on the day, the boys will have a sleep in the afternoon, get to the stadium early so they can have a walk around, get familiar with it,” McAvoy told our paper.
“Anfield would have been a great one but we can’t grumble and worry about who we’re playing against. Liverpool were missing a lot of good payers because they’d played in the Carabao Cup, so Leeds were playing against a weakened team.
“But they’ve beaten Norwich away, Brighton away, beaten Liverpool, though only beat Sheffield United on penalties. It’s a one-off game. They’re going to have a lot of quality. [Former Millwall loanee] Charlie Cresswell’s brother plays centre-back, I spoke to him last year about how his brother was doing.
“It will be a completely different game to the Chelsea game but another massive test for us.
“It’s going to be a great occasion for the boys. It’s a great achievement to get there. They’ve got better as the tournament has gone on.
“It will be a great night for us, great exposure for the academy. And going into the game after beating Chelsea has given us great belief we can go there and perform.
“We’re really looking forward to it.”
The game is next Thursday (April 4).
