Blues youngsters inspired by home record

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Under-18s manager Joe Edwards says Chelsea will take heart from last season’s FA Youth Cup comeback against Fulham as well as some spirited Stamford Bridge displays by the first team when they host Tottenham on Wednesday.

The Blues trail their London rivals 2-0 after the FA Youth Cup first leg at White Hart Lane, but Edwards was in bullish mood for the return tie.

“We’ve reflected on first-team nights against Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain last year and Barcelona in 2011/12 when we won the Champions League, as part of our motivational preparation,” Edwards told the club website.

“We’ve also been in this position ourselves in the Youth Cup, where we’ve been behind in the tie or in games. A home crowd can make a massive difference and we saw that last year in the final against Fulham [Chelsea won the cup 7-6 on aggregate after losing the first leg 3-2].

“Getting the first goal and reducing the deficit to one could really make things difficult for Spurs but we know we need to play in a controlled way and dominate the game. We don’t need to start panicking and rushing from the first minute.

“We’ve had all the players together for a much longer period than the first leg so we’re going into the game with a lot more preparation time too. We’ve had to pick ourselves up as a group after the first leg because the boys were a bit dejected but now we have to remind ourselves and everybody else just what we’re capable of.”

Chelsea’s Under-18s versus Tottenham in the FA Youth Cup semi-final second leg takes place on Wednesday evening at Stamford Bridge, kick-off 7pm. Tickets for the game are priced at £5 for adults and £3 for concessions.

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