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Barry Lewtas does not hide his desire to win the FA Youth Cup this season, but the U18 Liverpool boss refuses to miss out on Wigan Athletic's fifth round match this week.
The young Reds have the opportunity to hold a quarterfinal match with Bury when they face their counterparts latics at Swansway Chester Stadium on Wednesday night.
Manchester United and Chelsea, 10 times winners of the past five seasons, have already been eliminated and Liverpool should have more and more chances to win the trophy for the first time since 2007.
But Lewtas does not take his next opposition lightly, especially given his impressive performance in the Northwest section of the Football League Youth Alliance this quarter.
He said: "We want to try to win, we have some good players and we have been successful in the competition so far, but we are not looking beyond this match.
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
"The focus is on Wigan, we did our homework, they took 43 points out of 45 and they have not lost in 25 games, they have a goal difference of more than 44 and they have not won. have not conceded more than two in one game
"This is not an underdog, we play against a team accustomed to winning, we know some of their boys who have spent time here in the past.
"They're coming to Chester hoping for a chance, but we have to make sure they're playing against a team of a level they're not facing this season yet."
Liverpool earned their fifth-round place thanks to victories over Portsmouth and Accrington Stanley, and Lewtas has no doubt about his players' ability to cope with the extra pressure in the final stages.
He added: "We usually play in big matches.I look at the UEFA Youth League and face Napoli knowing that we needed a win to win.
"We do not underestimate this one, but we have had a lot of big games this season and every time the boys got up, now they have to start again."
The U18s of Liverpool prepared for their midweek meeting with Wigan in a 1-1 draw against the League at United on Saturday.
And for the sixth time in as many games against United at this level, young Reds have fired one of their men.
However, Lewtas insists that he has no problem of discipline and stressed that the competitive nature of the matches was the main reason why both teams were losing players regularly.
"It just seems to be this game. On this occasion, it was a second yellow," he continued. "If it had been a red, we could not have complained.
"There was no malice, it was just a mistake of lack of concentration and he was a little late.
"I do not think there's a problem of discipline, Boyes's was a little over-pulled by a shirt, he was a little unhappy because it was very far from the goal and I'm not sure this is an opportunity to clearly mark.
"Our record in the other games was pretty good." Abdi was a second yellow for a high foot.
"We talked about the importance of keeping 11 players on the field, three players were fired against United this season and they had two, which can sometimes happen when the games are very competitive.
"If boys reach the level of Anfield and Old Trafford, I'm sure fans will want to see some tackles."
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