Lydia Bedford previews Norwich City U18s v Brentford U18s | OneFootball

Brentford Under-18s head coach Lydia Bedford says she’s confident her young Bees will “rise to the occasion” as they to Carrow Road to face Norwich in the third round of the FA Youth Cup on Monday night (kick-off 7pm).

The U18s have had a solid start to life in the Professional Development League this season, currently sitting ninth in the table after 10 games.

Brentford will be aiming to go one better than last season after exiting the competition at the third round following a defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Bedford says, despite the result, she was proud of her side’s performance against Spurs and feels her team would have learnt valuable lessons from that experience.

“Last year, playing Spurs at Wheatsheaf, was a great occasion for the club and, although the result didn’t go our way, we were really proud of the performance,” explained Bedford.

“I’m really pleased they get the opportunity to play at a stadium and playing at Carrow Road will definitely add an edge to us on the day.”

The head coach says she’s confident her side will be able to pull off an upset on Monday night, as they come up against a club who have won the competition twice in their history.

Bedford specifically points to the U18s pre-season game in Germany against Bayern Munich as an example of her side stepping up against quality opposition.

“We saw it against Bayern Munich in pre-season, when this group of players come up against a team that has significant history, they tend to up their game.

“We’re all really excited - cup games are the ones where you go out and everything that happens in the 90 minutes is only the thing that matters.

“I know the players will bring all of their energy to try and give their best performance on the day and, hopefully, as head coach, I can be very proud of what they achieve.”

Last time out in the FA Youth Cup

The young Bees saw their FA Youth Cup journey come to an end last season following a 5-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur Under-18s at Wheatsheaf Park.

Playing in front of fans at Wheatsheaf Park for the first time, Brentford's U18s went 2-0 down early in the second half. However, a Iwan Morgan header gave the side belief early in the second half.

A talented Tottenham side finished off the game strongly, scoring three more times following a Remy Bennison red card as they advanced to the fourth round of the competition.

About Norwich City Under-18s

The Canaries compete in the Premier League 2, where they sit ninth after nine games, winning twice, drawing four and losing three times.

The side enter Monday’s fixture without a win or a clean sheet in their last three games.

The club’s most recent triumph in the FA Youth Cup came in 2013, when they beat Chelsea U18s 4-2 on aggregate over two legs to be crowned champions.

Match coverage

The club will have updates of the match against Norwich City on social media, as well as a match report on the official website and our new official app.