Just a week after we played out the 2019/20 FA Youth Cup final, Ed Brand's team enter the 2020/21 competition at the third round stage, for which the draw was made today (Friday). The tie is due to be played by Saturday 12 December at one of our Academy venues.

Defeat in the delayed final against Manchester City at St Geroge's Park concluded the tournament and inflicted just our second defeat in the competition in over six years, but now a fresh crop of players are set to embark on an exciting Youth Cup journey of their own and hopefully reclaim the trophy.

Our opponents, Barnsley, beat Crewe Alexandra to take on Birmingham City in last season's fourth round where they exited the competition after a 2-1 defeat away from home. Meanwhile, the last time we crossed paths was also in the Youth Cup back in 2013 when Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek started as Chelsea won 3-0 and progressed to the quarter-finals, ultimately falling just short as Norwich pipped us to the coveted title over the two-legged final.

Elsewhere, the kick-off time for our final group tie in the Papa John’s Trophy away at Bristol Rovers has been brought forward to 6pm.

The winner of the game on Wednesday 18 November will decide which team joins Oxford United in the knockout stage of the competition.