AFCB

Under-18s

Connell previews FA Youth Cup tie

The under-18s begin their FA Youth Cup campaign on Wednesday evening with a trip to Exeter City at St James Park.

There will be a free live stream for the match - provided via Exeter's YouTube channel - for the 7pm kick-off, with coverage across the evening, as well as a link to the stream, coming from the AFC Bournemouth Academy Twitter feed.

Ahead of the match, afcb.co.uk spoke with manager Alan Connell to get his thoughts on a competition that holds so much importance to him and his squad.

He explained: "I say it every year, the FA Youth Cup is the most prestigious competition that we're in.

"Everyone remembers it, I remember it as a player and where I was when I played. In the last few years we've had some good runs in the FA Youth Cup.

"For me I look back with some special memories with the players like Nnamdi Ofoborh, Jaidon Anthony, Gav Kilkenny, Jake Scrimshaw and Nathan Moriah-Welsh, players who have done it during my time here as manager.

"Now I want these boys to have special memories and experiences as well because they deserve them."

Standing in the way of the Cherries is a an away tie against the Grecians on their first-team pitch, and with the two sides yet to play this season Connell knows his side will have to be at their best to progress.

"It's going to be a tough game against Exeter, they're actually the only team we haven't played in our league this season, but they've always got a high-quality youth team," he said. 

"We'll go into it full of confidence, for obvious reasons having kept the recent momentum going of recent weeks and months on Saturday.

"It's up to us to prepare properly, which we will, and up to us on Wednesday night to perform to the best of our abilities - and if we do that then hopefully we can progress to the next round."