Preview | Sunderland U18s v Swansea City U18s
Swansea City Under-18s face a testing tie in the prestigious FA Youth Cup when they take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon (1pm).
The third-round tie had been due to take place at Landore Training Ground, but was postponed and then moved due to a frozen pitch in SA1.
The FA Youth Cup is celebrating its 70th year after being introduced for the 1952-53 season, and it has replicated the success of the senior tournament by becoming the domestic knockout tournament that all clubs aspire to do well in.
The Black Cats are new competition for the young Swans, with the category one Wearsiders plying their trade in Premier League 2.
Sunderland have tasted defeat just once in their last five fixtures, and recently netted four goals against Liverpool to go top of the north section in PL 2.
If the Swans are successful - they will face either Rochdale or Fulham at Landore Training Ground in the fourth round.
Pre-match views
Coach Darren Davies: "It'll be a great game for us, they're flying high at the top of their division and there's some unbelievable clubs in that league, so it will be a tough test.
"I'm excited to face Sunderland in such a famous competition, we couldn't have had a better tie, really.
"We were disappointed to exit the Premier League Cup, so we'll look to implement our style and principles in this cup and hopefully, we can get a result."
Previous meeting - April 8, 2017
Sunderland 2 Swansea City 0
Swansea City Under-18s were defeated on the road the last time they faced the young Black Cats.
The goals were scored by Sunderland trialists. The home side took the lead after 71 minutes when Jack Diamond made a run through the middle before being tackled, but the rebound fell to the trialist striker to round the keeper to score from a tight angle.
The visitors replied by hitting the bar and forced the ball over the line, but the effort was ruled out by the referee for a foul on keeper Anthony Patterson.
The Swans kept up the pressure and two more saves by Patterson kept the lead intact, and on 82 minutes the Wearsiders broke at speed to clinch the game through another goal from a trialist.
