Leo Black on FA Youth Cup: “We have an opportunity to make history”

Leo Black says our Under-18s are determined to take another big step in this season’s FA Youth Cup when we take on AFC Bournemouth this evening (Tuesday 6 February, 7pm UK, live on SPURSPLAY).

Following hard-earned wins over Brentford and Burton Albion, we now face the Cherries at AFC Wimbledon’s Plough Lane in the fifth round, looking to advance to the latter stages of the prestigious youth tournament.

For right-back Leo, who captained the team in Friday’s 6-3 epic at Southampton, tonight’s match represents a big challenge – but also an opportunity.

“We all understand that this is a very important game for us – not just for us as a team, but for the club as a whole,” he said. “It’s a big game for everyone and it means a lot to us as players. As a group, we have an opportunity to make history in this competition for the Club and for ourselves, and that’s what we’re determined to do.

“We’ve been training really hard as a group and everyone is looking forward to it. We’ve seen that Bournemouth can be a very direct team at times, so they look to get in behind and they do have some fast attackers to do that, so we have to be ready for the race and be smart in general in our defending.

“We’ve scored many goals in this competition so far, so hopefully at the attacking end we can have another high-scoring game. I feel like scoring six in our last game against Southampton definitely gave us some momentum and that feeling that we can do it again will keep us going more and more.”

A regular starter for our Under-18s as an inverted right-back this season, Leo has enjoyed a positive week which saw him make his debut for the Under-21s against Bristol City last Tuesday before captaining the Under-18s and scoring a long-range stunner at Southampton on Friday. Previously a midfielder, the 17-year-old believes he’s making good progress on an individual level, but highlighted that there’s still room for improvement.

“I believe it’s going well and I feel like I’m definitely making progress, especially playing as an inverted right-back, which is something I’ve just started this season,” he said. “I feel like I’ve adapted to the position quite well, but I can still get better. I played right-back in the Under-11s, 12s and 13s, but I never really did the inverted role at that point – I went straight to midfield and played there throughout the older age groups from around the Under-13s to 17s. It was a pretty smooth transition because I’m a tenacious player and I can defend as well, I’d like to think I can be smart on the pitch so my timing to come in has improved, but I can still work on it more.

“I feel like you have to be versatile in football, especially with the competition for places – everyone is playing so well, so you’ve got to be able to adapt to a number of positions to give yourself the best possibility to play. It felt good to be a leader and captain this team last week, especially to a win – and to grab a goal. Everyone was listening and doing their thing, so I felt it went well.”