‘Be at our best’ - Blackpool hero’s message to stars of future in hope to recapture Chelsea spirit

Blackpool under-18's manager Neal Eardley has sent a rousing message to his players ahead of their FA Youth Cup clash with Bolton Wanderers tonight.

The young Tangerines are hoping to progress to the next stage after being knocked out at the third round stage last year by Stoke City. The competition has been the starting place for several academy players who have gone on to graduate to the first-team.

North-West rivals Bolton are their opponents and they will meet for the third time already, having duelled with them in the LFA Cup, and the EFL Alliance League. The Trotters have had the better of them having knocked them out of the Lancashire FA Youth Cup, but in the most recent meeting there was a 1-1 draw in which Blackpool scored a late equaliser.

Eardley said to the official club website: “We're going to try everything we can to play at our best level and it should make for a good, really competitive game.

“It's a game of football, we're not looking past the fact that it's us against them.

"Obviously, it's got that little bit around it with it being the FA Youth Cup and wanting to obviously do well in the competition and progress with it being a knockout game.

"We're not really sort of thinking beyond that. At the end of the day, we're going there to try and put on the best performance we possibly can, which hopefully gets us over the line and into the next round.”

Back in 2021/22, the club reached the quarter-finals and lost narrowly to Chelsea, Harvey Vale and Malik Mothersille who have gone on to play for Bristol Rovers and Peterborough United's first teams.

Tayt Trusty, Will Squires, Luke Mariette and Jake Daniels featured for Blackpool in that side that reached the quarter-finals nearly two-years ago. Centre-back Squires made his debut for the first-team in the EFL Trophy, whilst Mariette has two senior appearances for the club, and Daniels has played in the Championship.

Tonight’s match at Chorley could be the start of what could be another memorable cup run, and put the players in the spotlight when Neil Critchley is considering calling upon players for the first-team.

"I think obviously it's one that we always look forward to,” Eardley said.

“It's the most prestigious competition at this age group in their development, so it's always a game and competition that we look forward to competing in.”