Under-18s midfielder Kyle King previewed our youth side’s FA Youth Cup Third Round clash against Premier League outfit Liverpool, which is set to take place later this month at The Academy.
Simon Wiles’ side have progressed to the third stage of the competition for the third year in a row after beating Tranmere Rovers and Mansfield Town at Highbury in the opening two rounds last month, with King producing one goal and two assists in those games.
Here’s what Kyle had to say ahead of the next round tie:
On drawing Liverpool in the Third Round…
“You don’t need me to tell you how big Liverpool football club is. The game itself isn’t just Under-18s football, as I think the quality that they’ve got in their ranks will be up there with some first-team football. It’s a massive game for us, we know how big the game is and hopefully, they will too.
“They’ll have looked at the fact we’ve beaten both Watford and Crystal Palace in the last two years so I don’t think they will take us lightly. We know who they are and I’m looking forward to it, it should be a good game of football and, hopefully, we can cause an upset in the competition.
“The dream is to knock out a big club like Liverpool. For some of us, this may be one of the biggest games of our lives, I know a few of the lads played in that Palace game last year but, for the lads who are new to it, like myself, it will be a big occasion where we hope to do the club proud.”
On his involvement in the cup so far…
“It’s a relief being back on the pitch after spending four months out injured. My first game back was against Tranmere in the opening round of the cup, and I’ve ended up scoring and setting one up for us to go through, which is another achievement for me and the club.
“I’ve always taken set-pieces wherever I have played so I always look to take the free-kicks, but I think the goal might have been the first one I’ve scored for Fleetwood, with the other ones also leading to goals.
“We’ve been struggling this year with injuries, as anyone could see, so to get that win in the FA Youth Cup and progress to the next round was a massive relief from everyone really. All the players and staff look forward to being involved with the cup and I think we are all just buzzing with how it’s going at the moment.”
On the Academy’s history in the FA Youth Cup…
“The cup run has been the light at the end of the tunnel for me. I know what the club has done in this competition in the past beating both Watford and Crystal Palace in the last two years, with both of those results being great achievements for the club.
“We have to look at the competition this year as we probably went into the Mansfield game as underdogs due to the amount of injuries we have and the way we ended up winning it felt so good for the whole group.”