FA Youth Cup Preview | Cardiff City U18 vs. Fulham U18

Cardiff City U18s begin their FA Youth Cup campaign on Friday night, as they welcome Fulham to Cardiff International Sports Campus, 7pm KO.

The young Bluebirds have been out of league action for three weeks due to postponements. The latest of which came on Saturday, with the game against Charlton Athletic called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

However, results elsewhere means City remain third in the PDL South. They sit behind Bristol City and Watford, but have three games in hand over them.

Friday night sees Tom Hutton’s men enter the FA Youth Cup. Last season, after defeating Crewe Alexandra in the third round, they were knocked out in the fourth round away to Oxford United.

This year, the young Bluebirds kick off the cup campaign at home to Fulham. The Cottagers are in the league above City and find themselves in third place in the Premier League U18 South, with only Tottenham and West Ham above them. Despite beating the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool, Ali Melloul’s team have suffered three defeats on the bounce.

Ahead of Friday evening's fixture, head coach Hutton said: “We’re really looking forward to it. The FA Youth Cup is always a special occasion and a memorable milestone for all the young players. We’re expecting a real challenge against a team that has a lot of good players, but I think as a group, we’re in really good form and are performing well, so going into the game, we’re full of confidence and we’re hopeful that we can progress into the next round.

“If you look at some of the boys in our group, they’ve had First Team experience already this year, so whilst the FA Youth Cup will be a good experience for them, there are members of the squad who have been involved with the First Team this year. The boys are full of confidence, they’re playing really well and we’re in a really good position to continue that run of form.

“It’s cup football and when you play in this competition, you usually come up against a tough challenge and a competitive game of football. It’s a nice occasion for the players and it’s one that they’ll remember for the rest of their careers. Speaking to the likes of Darren Purse and Aaron Ramsey, they remember who they played and how the games went and look back on those experiences fondly in how it helped them to become the players that they were or are.”