The path from promising youth footballer to first-team player at a club like Manchester United is never smooth, but at the end of tonight's FA Youth Cup final at Old Trafford we might have a better idea of who is on the right route.
One of the greatest challenges of stepping up from academy football to a senior environment is dealing with the sudden rise in meaning and expectation. The reality is that games in Premier League 2 and at Under-18 level don't mean as much as first-team fixtures at any professional level and they are generally watched by proud parents and scouts.
Manufacturing a more meaningful environment is almost impossible, but tonight the best youngsters at United and Nottingham Forest will go through a test that will tell us, themselves and their coaches a little bit more about them.
