Young centre-back on tonight's Surrey Cup tie
Promising Wimbledon centre-back Oluseyi Daley says tonight’s match at Sutton United offers him a great opportunity to show how far he has progressed since being released by Leyton Orient.
A young Dons squad face a tough test of their credentials in the Surrey Senior Cup semi-final against a side currently ninth in Conference South. However, Oluseyi is determined to rise to his biggest challenge yet after he came through Wimbledon’s College Academy to earn a scholarship at the club.
“I got released by Leyton Orient when I was 16 and my confidence was quite down, but then I joined the College set-up at Wimbledon,” Oluseyi said. “I came through that for a year and then I signed a scholarship at the start of this season, which gave me a real confidence boost. Hopefully, I can carry on getting opportunities like this one tonight, keep striving forward and earn a professional contract here. It is a big motivation for us tonight because we are playing against a Conference South side. It is a great challenge and offers a good opportunity for us to impress.”
The image above shows Wimbledon’s Under-18s squad (Oluseyi is third from the left in the back row) pictured with Sophie Hosking after the Olympic gold medal winner’s recent motivational speech at the training ground.
Academy Manager Mark Robinson has called on the club’s supporters to really get behind his players tonight at Gander Green Lane.
“I think Sutton’s fans will turn up in their numbers and it will be great if we can get our fans along to support the boys as it would give them a big lift,” Mark said. “It is then up to the boys to give it a right good go. They have the backing of Neal Ardley and Neil Cox to play with no fear and for them not to worry about making mistakes. They have told them to go out and play and grasp their opportunities. You would not get that with many other managers, who would be concerned about the lads making errors with it being an Under-18s side against a first-team.”
Dons Player subscribers can watch a video interview with OIuseyi, Dan Pearse and Mark Robinson on our premium site.
The full squad for tonight is as follows: Seb Brown, Jack Greenaway, Greg Hayden, Kieran Tarbie, Oluseyi Daley, Owen Roberts, Matt Cunnington, Frankie Merrifield, Dan Pearse, Chace Jacquart, Charlie Fayers, Huw Johnson, Tom Beere, Sam Baffour, George Oakley, Harlen Basker.
Admission prices for tonight’s match (7.45pm kick-off) are: Adults £8, £4 concessions and £1 for juniors.