'Long, hard look at themselves...' - Sheffield Wednesday coach delivers honest verdict after cup exit

Sheffield Wednesday’s U18s manager, Andy Holdsworth, says that they were left carrying too many players as they were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup.
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The Owls were beaten 2-1 by Cambridge United as they missed out on a trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal, with Joey Phuthi getting their only goal of the game in a disappointing display at Abbey Stadium.

Wednesday barely threatened the hosts over the course of 90 minutes, and didn’t deserve to go through based on their performance – with several players ‘off it’ from the early stages of the encounter.

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Holdsworth admitted afterwards that there was a real air of disappointment at the result, admitting that Cambridge were full value for their progression into the quarterfinals.

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Speaking to The Star after the defeat, the Owls coach said, “We’ve come in here on a good run of form in the cup, but we’ve said in there now that you can only carry so many players in a team environment, but in a game where you’re carrying lots of players at the same time you know it’s going to be a difficult night. We knew after a few minutes that we had a lot of players off it.

“Full credit to Cambridge, they deserved everything they got tonight. They were energetic and intense in everything that they did, and they moved the ball well - which we didn’t do. So unfortunately that’s us out of the cup…

“The FA Youth Cup is something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives, so we always want to go far. They’re disappointed they got beat, but at the end of the day you’ve got to turn up for nights like this.

Sheffield Wednesday went out of the FA Youth Cup after a disappointing performance.Sheffield Wednesday went out of the FA Youth Cup after a disappointing performance.
Sheffield Wednesday went out of the FA Youth Cup after a disappointing performance.
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“When the going gets tough you need your mates at the side of you. But I think if a lot of them have a long, hard look at themselves then they’ll realise that they’ve not done enough tonight.”

Holdsworth’s U18s will now turn their attentions back to the Professional Development League – in which they have games in hand on those above them – as they look to try and finish the season on a high and put their cup exit behind them.

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