Notts County youth team are fully prepared for tonight’s Midland Youth Cup Final encounter with Walsall.
The Banks’s Stadium fixture will kick-off at 7pm and sees the young Magpies vying for their first piece of silverware since the reformation of the youth set-up in 2008.
Mick Leonard explained that it is the youth team’s biggest match since his return to Meadow Lane as Academy manager.
He told the official site: “For the second years it’s the last game of their scholarship, a cup final and a chance for them to go out on a high.
“They can get a winner’s medal and the first trophy since we restarted, so it’s probably the biggest game they’re likely to play.
“It would be nice to win a trophy to underpin the season we’ve had, which, for me, has been exceptional in terms of developing young players and bringing them through into the first team environment.”
Walsall have already shown that they will be tough opponents, having beaten Notts 7-2 in the Youth Alliance Cup Semi-Final back in February.
Leonard stated that his team has nothing to fear heading into the game, as he felt that uncharacteristic errors cost Notts on that day.
“It was a strange game, because both teams were very tentative,” he recalled.
“We actually started the last game very well, went a goal ahead and we were in control of the game until they equalised.
“I’ve reviewed the game on DVD and some of the errors in that game were ridiculous – ones that you wouldn’t expect our under-nines and 10s to make.
“We completely lost our focus and that sometimes happens in football, even as high as the Premier League.
“I don’t think the score is an indication of the two teams so tonight is a totally different game.
“It’s a one-off, 90 minutes and it will be a totally different event to that one, I hope.”
Coverage of the match will be available on the club’s official Facebook and Twitter pages.
Look out for the match report on the official site and extended highlights on Magpie Player.
For full ticket details, click here.