City's U18 side face Bolton Wanderers U18 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in the second round of the FA Youth Cup on Monday night (7pm KO).
Read what head coach Sam Tillen and midfielder Denny Oliver had to say ahead of the game, as well as getting the lowdown on Monday’s hosts.
Tillen’s thoughts:
“It has been a good week. We’ve worked hard focusing on the upcoming task - this weekend has allowed us to really prepare for Monday and we feel like we’re in a good place.
“We’re in the same league as them and they’re top of it, we’re fourth at the moment but only two points behind so it’s two of the best teams in the league coming up against each other. It’s a tough test as they’re a good side, so it’s down to us to show our best selves.
“The experience of being in a stadium like that and playing under the lights is a great and one that the lads will always remember. For Bolton to be holding it at their ground, which was a Premier League stadium for a number of years, is going to be a great experience for the boys.”
Oliver on the FA Youth Cup:
"I’ve spoken a lot with Sam Tillen and Calum Oakenfold, they want me to control the game and utilise my passing - it’s nice that I’m trusted in that role to keep the game flowing and I get to control the tempo.
"It’s good that we got through comfortably against Lichfield because sometimes you can struggle against lower league teams, but now we're all looking forward to Bolton. They’re a very good team but I don’t think we need to worry, we’ll show them the respect they deserve as we know we’re going to be in a game.
“This competition is good as you get to play at these different stadiums and you may never get those chances again as you get older, so it’s definitely good for the younger lads to experience this.”
A look at the opposition:
The young Trotters have had an almost perfect start to the 2024/25 campaign, sitting top of the EFL Youth Alliance and dropping just two points in their opening nine games.
Bolton have not been in action for more than two weeks, but extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 16 games last time out with an empathic 6-2 victory against Doncaster Rovers.
Wanderers put six past Rotherham United in the first round of the FA Youth Cup to set up a tie with the Imps with exciting forward David Abimbola scoring a brace.
Match information:
Supporters can back the young Imps in the North West on Monday evening - with tickets available to purchase here.
Match updates are also available on the Academy X (formerly Twitter) account.