Garreth Barker talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
Rotherham United’s Academy are in FA Youth Cup third round action against Middlesbrough this evening.
The Millers travel to Heritage Park, home of Bishop Auckland FC (DL14 9AE), for a 7pm kick off looking to build on their 2-0 victory over Scunthorpe United at the weekend.
As always, support is always welcome for the next generation, with tickets on the day priced at £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.
"Obviously everybody knows in football how productive Middlesbrough's Academy is,” Academy manager Garreth Barker told www.themillers.co.uk
“Dave Parnaby has run that programme very well for a number of years, so we know that it will be tough.
“They are a Premier League club with some very good young players coming through which includes a good spine of internationals. It will be a very similar team in terms of standard to the Tottenham side we played last season, so it will be hard but a game that all the lads are very excited about.
"They will be well organised and will have a team with a huge amount of technical ability.
“For us, it is about not worrying about Middlesbrough, we need to remember it is Boro under 18s, we aren't playing the likes of Dael Fry, the under 23s or the first-team. We are playing boys of the same potential, and for me I firmly believe that we have three or four players here who would start in their line-up - we have not had that before.
“We need to play our game, impose that on them, try and make it uncomfortable for them to play, and rely on the quality that we have."
Following tonight’s game the Academy are back in Youth Alliance League action on home soil against Bradford City. Kick off is at 11am at Roundwood.