Liverpool U18s boss Barry Lewtas on FA Youth Cup hopes and Man Utd red cards

In charge: Barry Lewtas
Liverpool FC via Getty Images
David Lynch12 February 2019

Barry Lewtas makes no secret of his desire for FA Youth Cup glory this season, but the Liverpool U18s boss is refusing to look past this week's fifth-round clash with Wigan Athletic for now.

The Reds' youngsters have the chance to set up a quarter-final meeting with Bury when they take on their Latics counterparts at Swansway Chester Stadium on Wednesday evening.

With both 10-time victors Manchester United and Chelsea, winners of the competition for the last five seasons, having been knocked out already, Liverpool look to have a growing chance of clinching the trophy for the first time since 2007.

But Lewtas isn't taking their next opposition lightly, particularly given their impressive performance in the North West section of the Football League Youth Alliance this term.

He said: "We want to try and win it. We've got some good players and we've done well in the competition so far but we're not looking beyond this game.

Liverpool FC via Getty Images

"The focus is on Wigan. We've done our homework on them. They have taken 43 points out of 45 and haven't lost in 25 games. They have a goal difference of plus 44 and haven't conceded more than two in a game.

"This isn't an underdog. We're playing against a team who are used to winning. We know a few of their boys who spent time here in the past.

"They will be coming to Chester fancying their chances but we have to make sure they're playing against a team at a level they haven't faced so far this season."

Liverpool secured their place in the fifth round courtesy of victories over Portsmouth and Accrington Stanley, and Lewtas has no doubts over his players' ability to cope with the additional pressure in the latter stages.

He added: "We're used to playing in big games. I look at the Uefa Youth League and going up against Napoli knowing we needed a win to go through.

"We're not underplaying this one but we've had a lot of big games this season and each time the boys have stood up. Now they need to do that again."

Liverpool U18s warmed up for their midweek meeting with Wigan by earning a 1-1 league draw at United on Saturday.

And for the sixth time in as many games against United at that level, the young Reds had one of their men sent off.

However, Lewtas insists he does not have a disciplinary issue on his hands and pointed to the competitive nature of the fixtures as the main reason for both teams regularly losing players.

"It just seems to be that game. On this occasion it was a second yellow," he continued. "If it had been a straight red, we couldn't have complained.

"There was no malice in it, it was just a mistake from a lapse in concentration and he was a little bit late.

"I don't think there's a discipline problem. Boyes' one was a little bit of a shirt pull. He was a bit unfortunate there because it was a long way from goal and I'm not sure that was a clear goal scoring opportunity.

"Our record in other games has been quite good. Abdi's was a second yellow for a high foot.

"We have talked about the importance of keeping 11 players on the field. We've had three players sent off against United this season and they have had two. Sometimes it can happen when games are so competitive.

"If the boys make it to the level at Anfield and Old Trafford I'm sure the fans will want to see a few tackles."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in