Hull City youngsters told to seize chance in FA Youth Cup tie with Crystal Palace

Hull City’s youngsters will be looking to grasp their chance in the limelight on Tuesday night when they host Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup.

While Liam Rosenior’s first team are looking to make it into the fourth round of the FA Cup proper at St Andrew’s, Chad Gribble’s Under-18s face the Eagles at the MKM Stadium eyeing an upset.

Having comfortably seen off AFC Fylde last time out, City’s youngsters can create their own little piece of history with victory in front of what they hope will be a sizeable home crowd.

“We’ve reached this round of the competition, as have Palace. We both come in at the same stage,” boss Chad Gribble tells Hull Live. “We’re both there on merit and look, we’ve done very well in some games this season against some clubs at our level, so we feel we’re ready to test ourselves against the next level and potentially one of the best.

“Over recent years, they’ve produced a lot of players that are playing for their first team, other first teams in the Premier League have been sold for big money. We’re very aware of how successful they are, but that excites the players, it excites the staff and it should excite everyone at the football club.

“There’s a project going on here at the football club and the academy are now part of that project which is what attracted me to the football club and it’s the first chance on the big stage to showcase the work we’re doing. The players are really excited. It’s a great occasion for them, it has a great tradition the FA Youth Cup. They’re really looking forward to it and that’s evident in the way they’re training.”

With the first team playing on the same night in Birmingham, the attendance at the MKM Stadium may well be lower than it would have been. But Gribble hopes that doesn’t deter fans from braving the cold and coming out to support the next generation, including the likes of Rocco Coyle and Stan Ashbee.

“It’s a shame,” he said. “It’s one of those things in football though, isn’t it? The first team are obviously away from home and not everyone will be able to travel with it being away and with it also being midweek, so we’d love as much support as possible in a game that’s going to be tough for us.

“But also in a game that we feel is a great chance for the Under-18s to showcase what they’re capable of, what they’ve been doing and hopefully showcase themselves as the next generation of young players for the club. It gives an experience the players don’t get day to day. It has made careers before.

“Players can do well in that competition, a group or a certain set of individuals can do well and it can start to forge careers or catch the eye and they’re memorable nights. To say you’ve played in the FA Youth Cup, for a lot of these boys, they’re, they’re homegrown, they’re Hull-based lads and they’re going to get to play at the MKM, some of them for the first time and it will create memories that will stay with them forever.”