Jez George hopes Cambridge United's under-18s can repeat last week's FA Youth Cup upset by beating another League One club's youth team at the Trade Recruitment Stadium this evening (7pm).

Last week, under the watchful gaze of first team manager Gary Brabin, they swept aside Colchester United and this evening they face their counterparts from Northampton Town in a second round tie.

"I was really pleased with the level of performance against Colchester and the way we set about the game," commented Head of Youth Development Jez George.

"We were really positive and played on the front foot and worked hard and applied ourselves well. That's key to success for us; it's no good just having some ability in the team, we've got to make sure we go out for every game with the right attitude and apply ourselves, and when we do we look a decent team.

"And it's the same for the older lads too when they play on a Saturday," he added. "The danger with young players is that when you get a bit of success and a couple of good performances and results, there's the temptation for them to take their foot off the pedal a little bit and obviously it's crucial that we don't.

"We try to drive them on to want more and use success as an incentive to work even harder, rather than an opportunity to relax a little bit."

The 4-1 win last week came courtesy of a Sam Ives (pictured) goal and an Adam Marriott hat-trick, but Jez revealed that the lads didn't get carried away by the result. Many of the team, joined by the older third year scholars, played at least part of CRC's 1-0 win against Tiptree United on Saturday to record CRC's third straight win, but playing in a mens league means the lads are on a steep learning curve and they have to keep their feet on the ground.

"If they don't , the league we play in means we get taught that lesson a few times over the course of a season," Jez confirmed. "As soon as you think you've cracked it, there's another team who's going to teach you different and that mentality is absolutely crucial for keeping that level of work and intensity and teaching them to apply themselves in every single game.

"That's why we've tended to be a little bit inconsistent in the Ridgeons League. We get a couple of good results sometimes and we find it hard to kick on from there, whereas when we have a couple of bad results we can sometimes use that as incentive to perform. What we need is a level of consistency where a good result kicks us on to an even better one."

Jez and the lads will be hoping that last week's win does that just that against tonight's opponents, and he added, "We've sustained a little spell over the last two or three weeks and it's important we keep that going because it will be a tough game against Northampton.

"We've got some information about them and we've seen some DVDs. They have a very dangerous centre-forward called Joe Benjamin who's quick and strong and a big threat, and two or three other players as well that we have to be aware of.

"But equally we feel that we've got some players with ability that they'll be wary of as well, so - just like for the Colchester game - we'll be aware of their strengths and set out to work really hard and defend properly, and hopefully our players with that bit of flair and ability going forward will play well and perform this evening."

Saying that he doesn't think there is a big difference between the teams, he continued, "It's just about playing well and performing on the night. If we perform somewhere near our best, I think we'd give ourselves a chance against a lot of teams."

Jez has a full squad to choose from, and shuffled the squad for last weekend's CRC game to make sure that the players weren't playing three sets of 90 minutes in a week: "They're all raring to go and it's just a case of keeping their heads right and making sure we play somewhere near our best on the night - you can't ask for more than that.

"If Northampton are better than us then fair play to them; I just want our lads to play as well as they can. I think most of the supporters who saw our last game will agree they saw some good football and the lads gave it everything and it was good to watch, and it certainly makes a difference when we have a good crowd in for these games - it really helps the lads.

"We're big underdogs," he stressed. "Just because we beat Colchester last week it doesn't mean we have a divine right to do it again, so it will be good to get a bit of support behind us because it's going to take a hell of an effort to repeat what we did in the last round."

Admission is just £5 for adults and £3 for concessions. Season ticket holders are reminded that season tickets are not valid for these games. There is free parking in the large car park behind the Main Stand, and the bar will be open for hot and cold drinks and snacks.

[Youth Team/FA Youth Cup articles]

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