Barnsley U18s travel to Crewe Alexandra in the FA Youth Cup third round on Thursday evening.
The young Reds are full of confidence heading into this fixture and Brad Binns insists that this competition is a chance for his teammates to showcase their abilities.
“I’m looking forward to it; it’s a great opportunity to show to other teams around the country how good you are,” said the midfielder. “As a team, we’re in great form at the moment, so it should be a good game.”
Just two points and one place separate the two sides in the Professional Development League, with Barnsley edging the encounter 1-0 earlier this campaign.
Sam Nicholson scored the only goal of the game back in October to secure a hard-fought victory for Tom Harban’s side, and Binns feels that could give the Reds a psychological edge ahead of the clash.
“We’re close in the league; both teams have been doing well,” continued the 18-year-old. “We’ve beat them already this season, which was a tight game, but I think we’ve got more quality.
“It might give us a bit of a mental edge having already beaten them this season, but it could work the other way with them wanting to prove a point.”
Barnsley did the double over Alex last season, claiming a thumping 7-1 win at the Oakwell Training Ground before securing a 2-1 victory in the return fixture in February.
While history may count for nothing at Gresty Road on Thursday evening, Binns believes that the Reds have made excellent progress in the past 12 months and are ready to kick on in the cup.
“I’m confident,” asserted the youngster. “We’ve got a good group of lads; we want to win and we want to go far, and we’re in a better place this time than we were last year, so there’s no reason why we can’t do well.”
You can find out how Tom Harban’s side fare by attending the game at Crewe Alexandra, kick-off at 7pm. Tickets are available to purchase on the turnstiles and are priced at £5 for adults and £2 for concessions.
Alternatively, you can follow updates on our official Academy Twitter account: @AcademyBFC.
