Interview

Wilshere reflects on FA Youth Cup progress

Jack Wilshere emphasised everyone in our squad will need to play their part if we are going to triumph in the FA Youth Cup, after we edged out Newcastle United 3-2 in a five-goal-thriller at St James’ Park on Tuesday night. 

Our under-18s coach reinforced this point after late substitute Osman Kamara fired us into the next round of the competition, three minutes after coming off the bench. 

“I’m so happy for Osman, he works so hard, he’s always got a smile on his face and he deserved his goal, it was a great finish,” he said.  

“I’ve said before when you go on a cup run we are going to need everyone, it’s a collective and combined effort. It’s the staff, it’s the substitutes, it’s the whole squad. It’s also the people at London Colney that make sure that we are fully prepared for every match day. 

“Then it comes down to us to deliver and the players did that today.” 

Going forward, Wilshere hopes this win will spur the team on for the remainder of the season. 

“I say to the players that they should enjoy these moments because coming to a stadium like St James’ Park is a great stage for them.

“However, we need the same desire that we had tonight into every game going forward. They’re going to have to want to win more than the opposition.”