The draw handed us a very hard group facing Wolves U23, Villa U23 and Brentford U23. Group of death you might say and we must be at our best if we want to progress from the group stages. Against Wolves U23 we have to manage without Jonathan Page, Emmanuel Airoboma and Prince Kobe Cisse. Three massiv losses for us and it's going to be hard to revenge ourselves against Wolves U23. We lost 2-0 in our first league game of the season and the lads is looking to get their revenege. Doable but we need a perfect performance.
So we face liverpool again in the league cup. We recently got a good result in the league however that means nothing. The cup is different and anything can happen. We've got a good squad of players so there is a chance that a few different players may be given the chance to show what they are capable of.
Definitely the group of death this one as Ed said with the top two from the U23 last season and Liverpool who are always a great outfit. That means the games against unmanaged Brentford will be absolutely critical to progression. In fairness to them they have a decent side but the lack of manager will cost them from fitness and we will have to make sure we take advantage.
We are at full strength and, if we don't take three points here this group will be really tough. We've had a great start to the season and we don't want to give anyone else even a sniff of weakness. We want to keep the run going and be winning as many games as we can challenging on all fronts.
A game you expect to win in football can be a dangerous thing and we have to avoid any signs of complacency as we go into this one. Be a professional outfit and get the job done is the message
We're in what looks like a top group and to get out of it winning our home games is going to be absolutely critical. We start at home against the only other lower league side in the group so, on paper this is our easiest game. But the cock up at the weekend has left us struggling for fitness and it'll be an interesting early test of our depth to see how we cope with this. We did add Blakely in the week and he will almost certainly be making his debut for us at some stage in this one.
United have had a mixed start to the season with a win and a loss and will be without the suspended McCormack which could be crucial. We need to take advantage - a win here would be vital for our chances in this one
