The Youth Team’s James Hooper is relishing the opportunity to play at Spotland in Wednesday night’s FA Youth Cup match.
Dale take on Crewe Alexandra in the second round of the competition and the full back says he’s looking forward to the game.
“I was lucky enough to be involved in the Lancashire Youth Cup final [which was played at Spotland in May] as an under 16, but that has been my only experience of playing at Spotland and I only got five minutes after coming on as a substitute.
“There’s a good vibe around the dressing room and we’re all looking forward to it. There's no nerves anymore because we’ve got the first game under our belt. We’re focusing on the job that we’ve got to do, which is hopefully getting a good win and seeing how far we can go in the competition.”
Hooper, who is a first year scholar, says the second years play an important role in games like these.
“It’s different for the first years who’ll have to adapt to playing in front of a crowd because we’re not used to, but I also think that it’s a great opportunity for us all – it’ll be great having the fans there.
“The second years have an important job in games like the Youth Cup because they pull us through with their experience. They’re a very good technical year, so with them in hand and the game being at Spotland I hope we can grind out a result.”
You can listen to the full interview with James on Dale Player.