James Oliver-Pearce believes that our young Dons are ready to produce another FA Youth Cup performance to make the supporters proud when they face Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night (6.00 pm kick-off).
James, who guided our Under-18s to victory versus Burnley in his first FA Youth Cup match as manager, said that he and the squad were taken aback by the messages of support after that fantastic victory. Over 1,000 fans watched a live stream of the game on our official You Tube channel and the manner of Wimbledon’s battling win led to a real connection with our fans.
Speaking ahead of the match at Plough Lane on Wednesday, James said: “We can’t say thank-you enough for all the support we have been getting. We know a lot of people tuned in for the Burnley game and it seemed to bring everyone’s spirits up really high, which was great. We got videos from fans, directors, and people I hadn’t heard from for a long time. It’s great that everyone feels such a connection with the players. Obviously, Wednesday is another big occasion for them to keep driving that and produce a Wimbledon type performance that everyone can be proud of. We want to make sure that the fans can recognise and appreciate the team that’s out there.
“We know how proud the fans are when they see some of their own either stepping out for the first-team or doing well. That’s something this club really values and we know we are a club that’s going to be reliant on producing individuals for the first-team and hopefully driving the club forward. It was quite overwhelming the amount of messages and videos that we received from people. It was incredible – my phone didn’t stop going off! I shared them all with the lads and they were like, ’Wow, how are so many people tuning in and how is it making such a big impact?’ That was only the ones who sent messages and videos in and there were probably loads more fans that were incredibly proud and resonated with the team. We want to make sure that we are making them proud again on Wednesday night.”
James is fully aware of the qualities that Tottenham’s squad will possess, but he’s been involved behind-the-scenes with several impressive results over the years at youth level, most notably the victories against Newcastle and Watford. That means there will certainly be no fear of the challenge ahead.
“We work and perform for a certain football club, so we need to make sure we are embodying that when we step out,” added James. “Just because we don’t care who teams are, we still respect who they are. We will have a large degree of respect for the opponents we are playing against, but if we step out and don't believe we can compete then we may as well stay at home and forfeit the tie. We believe that we can go out and perform and we believe we can compete. With all of that focus, desire, and the quality that some of these players have there is no reason why we can’t go out and perform. That’s the message to the group, and that’s how they feel: they want to go toe to toe with Tottenham. We do respect the quality they have, but we will aim to stamp our mark on it in our own way.
“Ultimately, we feel that it’s time for the scholars to shine, but if the Under-16s are performing brilliantly and earning their places I will have no hesitation about putting them in. Fortunately, I have worked with all of these age groups for a good few years now, so I know them personally and their footballing talents. At the very worst, they will have experienced something they will be able to fall back on, and hopefully for the betterment of the first-team in the future."
In the interview with James, he also spoke about the value of working with our current Head Coach Mark Robinson, who previously helped the Under-18s to reach the last-16 of the competition on two occasions. Click on the link below to watch the full interview with James. Supporters can watch a live stream of the match on our official You Tube channel with coverage starting at 5.45 pm.