BURTON Albion under 18s manager Sam Rose is delighted with the FA Youth Cup draw that will see his side take on Sunderland on December 15.
The Brewers fell early in the competition last season, with a first round penalty defeat to Ilkeston halting their progression.
However, Burton’s status as a Championship club means that they enter the FA Youth Cup in the third round.
Rose says that he is thrilled with the challenge of taking on a Premier League side’s academy squad and believes that facing such opposition will only aid in his players’ development.
“It will be a big game for everyone, the players are looking forward to it and there is a real buzz about the whole occasion.
“We want to play against good teams and we are sure that Sunderland will be a very good team. We will analyse how they play, we have watched three or four of their games already, to give us the best chance.
“Burton are a Championship club now and we hope that we will remain a Championship club, so this may be where the future lies for us. We are going to have to be able to compete with the bigger clubs.
“Sunderland will be spending millions of pounds on their youth development programme but we have very good footballers and if we perform as we can do then it could be a very good night for us.”
The game will be played on December 15 (7pm kick off) at Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground.