Manchester United coach Neil Ryan says his players are excited ahead of their FA Youth Cup tie against Salford City tonight.
The third-round tie is the first official meeting between the clubs at Under-18s level, as far as lead coach Neil Ryan can recall, although Neil Wood's Under-21s won 6-0 in a Papa John's Trophy encounter earlier this season.
"It's really exciting to get the FA Youth Cup going again," Ryan told manutd.com. “All the players are looking forward to it, as they do every year, and having had the semi-final last year, it was really good experience. I think the boys are champing at the bit."
"Salford will be tough. I watched the last cup game they played and had a look when they beat a strong, spirited Tranmere side [in the previous round]. They'll be organised and we're prepared for a tough game. Coming up against ourselves, what more do they need inspiration-wise than playing against us? We'll make sure we're prepared as we don't want any surprises on the night.
"If you look at the club, the infrastructure and stadium, the plans going forward, I'm sure we all know the owners and backers behind it all and it's a great project going on there. They've had fantastic success as a club and with the youth system - I know Chris Casper very well and they have good infrastructure in place."
