please log in to view this image The Under-21s face West Ham United in the first leg of the U21 Premier League Cup Final tonight. Kick-off under the lights at the Boleyn Ground is at 7pm in what is the final Under-21 fixture to be played at West Ham’s home ground before the East London club’s move to the Olympic Stadium. It seems West Ham have sold 15,000 tickets, which is rather impressive.
If you can't make it to olde London town, second string U21's are playing Forrest at Ferriby tonight 7pm.
Good luck to them, hoping they can come away with a good result, so there will be a good turn out at the KC/KCOM.
“It goes without saying that everyone at the club wishes the lads all the very best for the final against West Ham,” “I’ll be following the game and cheering them on because I’ve seen first hand just how hard the players and staff work. “They deserve it (to be in the final), because they have had an unbelievable season. They’ve enjoyed a fantastic first campaign playing at a higher level, finishing third in the league, and now they have this cup final to look forward to. “It will be a great experience for the younger ones involved in the squad - to get the chance to play at the Boleyn Ground in front of a decent crowd. It's then back to the KC Stadium for the seocnd leg next week, and hopefully they will have plenty of home support on the night. “I was only speaking to a few of the lads last week and I just told them that having got this far in the competition, they’ve got to go and win it now and it would be great for the Under-21s if they could do just that. “It will be tough for them against a very good West Ham side but on behalf everyone in the first-team set-up, I wish them the very best of luck.” Robert Snodgrass
“Being in the final means an awful lot to us and especially to me with it coming in my first season here,” “I definitely didn’t expect this when I joined the club and it really has turned into a bit of a dream first season here for me. To achieve what we have done so far is a credit to us and hopefully we can get over one more hurdle to come. “The final has been on our minds for a long time and we don’t make any apologies about that. “It’s now just so close that we’re all fully focussed on going down to West Ham and that excitement is really obvious at the Academy. Hopefully we can go down to Upton Park and get a good result. “West Ham have a good team no matter what level they play at. They have an established Academy, which has produced several good players throughout the years and overcame a really decent Liverpool team in the last round – it’s going to be a really tough task. “We’re not in the tie to make up the numbers though. We’re confident we have enough about us to get through the first leg and give the second leg at the KC Stadium a really good go. “It’s just eleven guys playing eleven guys in the end of the day and we’ll be going there with the best intentions of getting a positive result.” “My year has had its ups and downs but I’m in a really good place at the moment,” “I was struggling to play games at the start of the season and it was a good ten or so games before I really felt I was contributing anything. “I just kept my head down and continued to work hard. I’ve got in the team now and I’m really enjoying playing my football here. “After my set back with Newcastle then it was just a great opportunity to get to playing football again. “Thankfully my hard work is paying off for me right now. I’ve somehow got the captaincy after just a year of being here and I take that as a real compliment. “The coaching staff obviously see me as a leader and I really enjoy that extra responsibility. “It’s a very humbling thing to have had the opportunity to captain the team and it makes me want to give that extra 10%. “The end goal for me is to be lifting the cup at the KC and that would really cap off what has been a memorable year for me.” Greg Olley
Good luck to the young lads and Greg Olley. What an amazing season they've had. Well done also to Tony Pennock and all their coaching staff. At least there's one group who knows how to teach them to score goals. Just hope more of them are going to be given their chances with the first team when Bruce is gone. Looking forward to updates on how they're performing in London tonight and to watching the game on Tiger Player. Also good to see Snodgrass' comments and support!
