BURTON Albion take on Preston North End in the semi-finals of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup this afternoon (1pm) looking to advance to another semi-final, this time national.
Following a resounding 4-0 win at Salford City at the end of January, the Young Brewers are just three wins from potential silverware.
Professional Development Phase Lead Coach Sam Rose is excited by the prospect of reaching that stage but anticipates a very tough game against Preston.
“We are really looking forward to it," said Rose.
"It’ll be a tough game because they’ve got a really good side - if we win, we’ve got a couple of games to go to win a trophy this year.
“It’s great, I think it’s important towards the end of the season to have something to play for, the season can sometimes peter out if you are out of the Youth Cup or you’re not chasing the league.
"We’ve got something to keep motivating the boys and hopefully we can go through from Tuesday into Saturday, which would be two of those knockout games on the bounce.
“If we beat Preston on Tuesday, we will play Bolton on Saturday, so it could be a good week!”
The Brewers go into today's clash on the back of a 2-1 win over Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Youth Alliance. The away side took the lead, but the Young Brewers turned the game around with goals from Max Raine and Callum Niven, to give Albion all three points.
Just like the 0-0 against Rotherham the previous week, Burton have continued to show faith in some of the U16 players to make the step up to the PDP team, and Rose believes that the experience of having to hold onto a game like they did will be another key lesson, as they make their way through the ranks.
“They are all talented players, but understanding the importance of when you should score, you do, and when you shouldn’t concede, you don’t," said Rose.
“The shape in the second half, being disciplined enough to keep your structure, and making it difficult for the opposition rather than chasing, losing your shape, losing your position, all of those things, it’s about game management.
“They’ve shown that they are good players individually but it’s about that next bit, seeing games out and taking chances when you get them.”