Nottingham Forest are in the FA Youth Cup final for the first time in the club’s history. But boss Warren Joyce doesn’t want his Under-18s side to stop there.
In front of a sizeable, and loud, crowd at the City Ground, a dramatic finish saw the Reds come from behind to see off Chelsea, 3-1, in the last-four on Monday night. That sets up a clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford in a battle for the silverware, on a date yet to be announced.
Forest’s final opponents have lifted the trophy a record 10 times. Their last triumph was in 2011, with a side featuring the likes of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, as well as ex-Forest defender Tyler Blackett.
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Joyce’s charges, though, will be prepared to “throw a few punches”. However, first, the lead coach has told his players they must keep impressing in order to get a chance to play in the final.
"You know what the Youth Cup means for that football club,” said Joyce, who spent almost a decade at Old Trafford. “They've not been in it since Paul McGuinness' side won it. That side had the Keanes (Michael and Will) in, Pogba, Ravel Morrison, Jesse Lingard, Larnell Cole, Sam Johnstone, Tyler Blackett. If I've left anybody out, they'll be absolutely caning me!
"A lot of players went from that group and played in the reserves, won things with the reserves and became serial winners.
"They've spent massive amounts of money on their team. We'll be underdogs again, but that's something we relish. And we'll certainly be throwing a few punches.
"Now you're there, you look for the next bit. There's seven or eight of these boys who will play next year as well, and all the subs can play next year.
"It's a fantastic achievement. It's a good experience for them. They've got to win on Saturday away at Burnley now, otherwise they might not make it to the final!
"It's fantastic for the boys to have had that crowd. You're grateful for the fans coming along and supporting the boys like that.
"Certainly when you go a goal down, it drives them on. It drags every little bit of energy that they've got out of them.
"We were saying to the players, 'look, there's people coming who have never seen you play football before, you want them to leave with a good impression of you as people, as footballers and as a group'. I think they've achieved that.
"It was a fantastic night for the boys to play in front of the fans like that. It was a great atmosphere.”
