Eric Kinder On The Win Over Wednesday

Last updated : 13 December 2007 By Thetashkentterror

Eric Kinder
United youth team boss Eric Kinder spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Tuesday night about the nailbiting penalty shootout win over the Owls at Brunton Park this evening, Kinder chatting about a potential visit to Old Trafford in the next round :


" We've always practised penalties and all the practice that we have put in over the last few weeks has paid off, there is no doubt about it. We went to Mansfield in the last round and we didn't start very well, they are a young side, I keep going on about this. They were nervous today and I can't protect them from the fact that they knew what the rewards were if we got through, they knew that it is going to be the biggest game they have ever played in. Hopefully for a lot of them there will be a lot of bigger games then they have played in tonight.

" We didn't put pressure on the ball very well at all in the first-half. What I said to them at half-time was that when you play against Academy teams they are better players than you are used to on Saturdays. You've got to press the ball because if you don't then they will punish you, and we didn't press the ball. Yes it was a good strike for their goal but we could have got closer to it and probably done something about it.

" It was a terrific goal and we're all pleased for Gary (Madine), we all think that he has got a decent future in front of him and it was a fantastic goal. It hasn't been one of Cooky's (Andrew Cook's) best nights tonight and he is a bit frustrated but he was a big part of the build-up to the goal. I thought that we were very good after that in the first-half, we were excellent and I expected us to come out in the second-half and go to them but we didn't, we never really got going.

" We do work hard on our fitness, we work hard on every aspect of the game, the fitness, the technique and the team-shape. We do and we try to be as professional as we possibly can with what we have got. What you have got to remember as well is that we haven't played for two weeks, we've been unlucky with the fixtures being called off. It works in two ways, we were guaranteed that we weren't going to have any injuries but you need games. You need games and I think it started showing in the second-half that we hadn't played for two weeks but full credit to them, they dug deep when they had to.

" Let's get this right, as a coach I hope that Brighton win because if Brighton win I fancy our chances of going through, not that I am going to give the Manchester United game up - I'm certainly not. For the boys though I just hope that Manchester United get the result and I'm sure that they will do because it is a fantastic side.

" I hope that the weather is kind, Brighton were due to play at Old Trafford and it got changed today because of the weather at the weekend as the Old Trafford pitch has got a bit scuffed up so they have pulled it off there and gone to Northwich. I feel sorry for the Brighton boys, the articles I read by Sir Alex Ferguson, he loves his youth team players and he gives them every opportunity to play at Old Trafford.

" Providing the weather is fine in January and they have no Champions League games, which they haven't, and they have no cup replays then I'm sure that he'll want to get it on Old Trafford. I just hope for the sake of the lads that the game is played there and they will never forget it for the rest of their lives. They are the biggest club in the country and they have been for a long, long time. I just hope that everything goes our way now, that they do get the result against Brighton and it is at Old Trafford and we'll go down there and we'll give it a go.

" It means that we have recruited well last year and we're doing the right things in training and the coaching. I think that we are doing that right and I think that we have made good choices with players and I think that we are bearing the fruit now. You've got to remember that they are a lot of young players and a lot of them can play in this competition next year. I just hope that we go and enjoy it now and they fully deserve it. "