Albion Under-18s continue their journey in the FA Youth Cup when they play Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday evening (ko 7pm) in round four.
After winning their first game in the tournament, Leigh Downing’s boys are relishing the prospect of stepping out onto the turf of a 30,000-seater venue in Staffordshire.
Last time out
It took 120 minutes, but the club’s youngsters found a way past Harrogate Town to win a ten-goal thriller at the Exercise Stadium in the third round.
Cole Deeming netted a brace, while Rhys Morrish, Ollie Bostock, Rio Parmar and a trialist also added goals to help the Baggies’ academy hopefuls come out on top in a topsy-turvy tie in North Yorkshire.
A perfectly placed free kick from @coledeeming8! 🎯
The full highlights from our 🔟-goal thriller in the #FAYouthCup are available here! 👇— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) December 13, 2024
Venue
The Potters’ bet365 Stadium will be the venue for Downing’s charges on Tuesday night.
It will, undoubtedly, be the largest ground most of the club’s youth-team players will have played at during their early careers thus far, and it presents a great opportunity to showcase their abilities on a big stage.
Opponents
Stoke City defeated Woking 3-0 to reach the fourth round of the Youth Cup and set up a tie with Albion.
City’s scholarship group are managed by Lead U18 Professional Development Coach, David Hibbert. Raised locally in Eccleshall, the former striker began his playing career at City’s local rivals Port Vale.
But Shrewsbury Town was where Hibbert enjoyed the most progressive spell of his career, making over 110 appearances for Salop. In total, he made just under 300 professional outings prior to hanging up his boots and returning to his local roots.
Stoke handed Hibbert his route into coaching, with stints as their Lead U15 and 16 coach, before accepting the responsibility of leading City’s scholars in 2023.
Pre-match thoughts
Lead U18 PDP Coach Leigh Downing wants his players to show their quality on the biggest stage when they go up against Stoke in Tuesday’s fourth-round Youth Cup tie.
Stepping out onto the turf at the bet365 Stadium will be a big moment in a lot of the young Baggies’ careers, and Downing believes the prospect of more football at big grounds, and in front of crowds, should be the main motivator for his team heading into the match.
After conceding four against Harrogate in the previous round, the 18s boss is keen for his academy hopefuls to show defensive resilience, while equally, exhibiting their quality when the moments arise if they are to progress to the fifth round of the competition in Staffordshire.
Downing said: “Harrogate did really well in getting quite a lot of fans into their ground, the atmosphere on the night was good, and if you look at Stoke compared to The Hawthorns, it’s very similar.
“A few of our lads have played there in PL2 games, but for a lot of our boys, Tuesday will be a lot more intense and there will be a lot more pressure on them.
“So, these are the opportunities and experiences we want them to have, and the more of these experiences they can get, hopefully, that will set them up for where they go in their careers when they play in front of thousands of fans.
“You could see the group I had a couple of years ago when we went to the City Ground to play Nottingham Forest, taking it all in before the game, looking around at the stadium.
“These nights can only spur the boys on to want to perform so they can have more opportunities to play at stadiums.
“If they can perform on the night and get through to the fifth round then, hopefully, we can get another tie where that experience will come again for them.
“I know Stoke, I know a lot of their staff, we played them in pre-season, so we know what they’re about.
"They’ll be competitive and I don’t think there will be a lot in the game, but if we can show that bit of quality on the night then it could be enough to see us through.”
Ticket details
Albion’s FA Youth Cup fourth-round fixture at the bet365 Stadium will be free for all spectators.
Fans will be able to watch the match from City’s West Stand, with those attending asked to enter the stadium via Gate B - which is located to the left of Stoke’s ticket office.
How to follow
There will be live updates across our social media channels for Tuesday night’s FA Youth Cup match against Stoke.
The full report, reaction and highlights from the match will be available on the website following the full-time whistle.
