Our Under-18s Head Coach is under no illusions as to how big a difference a Plough Lane crowd can make in the FA Youth Cup – and has once again called for your support this evening.
Tonight Simon Clark’s side play host to Swindon Town (7.00pm kick-off) in the second round of the much-coveted competition as we bid to make more memories on home turf.
Tickets can be bought on the gate or you can buy from our online shop as we look to cheer on the boys to another victory.
Here Simon discusses our approach to the fixture, the benefits of playing in front of Wimbledon fans and what we can expect from the Robins in a wide-ranging interview.
OUR APPROACH
We’ll be looking to build from the back and dominate the ball as we always do. I want my players on the ball and I want them to play in control. If we move the ball well and get our positioning right, we will create chances. It’s about the key moments and I felt we took them well in the previous round. We kept Lewes locked in up the pitch and the only chances they had against us were from outside the box. It’s important that we show that attitude tonight otherwise we will get punished.
It has to be about us. We’re fit, we’re confident and we come into it in a good place after beating Cambridge United at the weekend. We want to join in on the momentum that the first-team have been building. We’re in a very positive place as a football club.
IMPACT OF A HOME CROWD
It’s absolutely huge. It’s wonderful. It’s great to see so much interest in our youth section. It’s all the players talk about in the build-up to games like this. It’s big for their career development. We want to put our young pros and our scholars in situations where they experience a different type of pressure in a one-off fixture. We want them to cope with it. They want to make the home crowd proud.
SWINDON TOWN
They play a back five. They very often jump press on the outside, so that’s what we’re expecting. I’ve watched their last four games. They’re very fluid and they’ve got some mavericks within their squad. They look to create and get on the ball, they’re quite individual in that respect.
We’ve played them at home already this season and beat them – I’m expecting them to be a bit more disciplined this time around. I believe they’ll sit in a bit more and look to hit us on the counterattack.
PICS: Lucy Dixon