United’s under-18 side are in FA Youth Cup action at Brunton Park tonight with Fleetwood Town the visitors as the pair contest the right to progress to round two.
Town are currently top of the North West Alliance league table, unbeaten with five wins and two draws from their seven games played.
This tie under the floodlights – kick off 7pm – will be a test for two good teams who are both more than capable of scoring goals.
“It’s a great night for the youth team,” manager Paul Simpson said. “I still remember my FA Youth Cup days even though they weren’t great games.
“We were probably better in the Lancashire Youth Cup, which we managed to win twice. In the FA Youth Cup we were quite poor at City, we lost against Leeds who had a right good side, and against Barnsley.
“But it’s a brilliant night for young players, it’s why I’m delighted they’re playing on Brunton Park. It’s where it should be played, that’s great for them.
“I hope we get a good turnout for them, I’ll certainly be there, I hope some of the first team players will be there to support, it, and hopefully they can go and perform and get through to the next round.”
“Nic Bollado and Ryan Carr were with me at the weekend but they’ll certainly be allowed to play,” he added. “I think this competition is a really important part of the development for youth players.
“If they’re fit they’ll be involved in the game. I needed them for our game at Tranmere, but that’s out of the way now.
“Whatever preparation the youth team need for Tuesday night, they’ll be part of Mark Birch’s group. Once they deal with that, if I need them for the following weekend, they’ll come back to us for the rest of the week.
“The first thing is get them involved tonight because it’s a really big thing for them to be part of.”