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" It doesn't really seem a long time since the Manchester United game, it's come on us pretty quick. It didn't bother me that the league game straight after the United game was called off, simply because the boys were still on a high. It's taken us a long time to get them down, a game we played on Saturday, and we lost on Saturday, and we did rest a couple of people but we weren't particularly at the races on Saturday. It happened before the United game so I hope that it happens again. The timescale has happened really quickly and it's come onto us pretty rapidly.
" It's a different atmosphere, we knew we were going to Manchester United and we were severely underdogs. We just wanted to go there and perform and we did, and we got the result we deserved. It's a little bit different now, the pressure has turned around, everybody thinks we are just going to walk out on the pitch and win. It's going to be a really, really hard game so they are a bit apprehensive, they are probably a little bit more nervous than I have seen them in the past.
" It's understandable though, if we can get past this one then we're in the last eight of a national tournament, so it's an incredible achievement for a club of this size. They (Aston Villa and Ipswich) are playing at the same time as us so we won't have the chance to go down and see them. That doesn't really matter though, we've got to do our own job first. I've looked at the DVD from Southend's victory against Derby and their victory against Stoke and they are not bad.
" They have got some pace in the side, they have got players who can hurt us, we are going to have to put the same energy levels in that we did against Manchester United. Also they are going to have to have the composure on the ball like we did against Sheffield Wednesday. If we get the two together then I'm sure we'll be fine but I keep saying it that with kids you don't know what you are going to get.
" The last round we went in as a group of first-years and with four second-years, but the first-years went in and they went in a little bit naïve on experience. The commitment and the will to win and their effort got them through, now we're asking them to be a bit more experienced and deal with a different situation. "
" They are not ready for that yet so they are just going to have to go out and perform just like they did against Sheffield Wednesday basically. If we do then we know that with the two lads upfront they will always score goals for us if we give them chances. That's what we've got to do, we've got to get the ball in the box and hope that the two big lads upfront produce again.
" It is development whatever we say, youth football is development and league games are used to try to get players into the first-team squad. Then the FA Youth Cup comes along and it just changes peoples' perspective of youth football because every club in the country puts their strongest side out. If you look at Southend tomorrow Peggy Lokando who is a midfield player doesn't play league games for them, but they bring him back for Youth Cup games as it's an important competition.
" It still is development, players will learn more from tomorrow night's experience than they probably will in five league games. We mustn't lose the fact though that it's not the be-all and end-all of the football club. It's nice for everybody concerned that we have gone this far and it would be nice if we could take one more step. Let's get a few players around the gaffer's first-team squad though and let's get them into reserve team football and let's make the club stronger in the future.
" I suppose developing players is a skill, whether I've got that or not I don't really know, other people will have to answer that. People look at Carlisle though and I just look back on the DVD from the last game and they are saying that Carlisle are a big side and people accuse us of being a big side. What they have got to remember is that we've got Simon Lakeland who has just turned 16, we've got Dan Wordsworth who is a second year who has just turned 17, we've got Jonny Blake who's not the biggest who's very young.
" We've got Gary Madine, yeah OK, Gary is 6'2 and he catches your eye, 6'4 infact, but Gary is so young. He is two years away from a being younger age group. So I hope that we can spot potential that will give people a little bit longer. People like Connor (Tinnion), Simon and Jonny are going to need a little bit longer than a normal under-17 player like Stephen (Hindmarch) or Dan (Wordsworth) or Tom (Aldred) or Cooky (Andrew Cook). Because they are big lads and they look like they are well on the way to being developed now. "
" So we've got to be skilful enough, and I'm lucky that I've got a manager who understands that and he'll give them time. I saw a lot of potential in Simon Lakeland where nobody else has, now I won't be proved right for another three years or I won't be proved wrong for another three years but I think Simon has got something. We are going to have wait for him though, that's why he hasn't taken part in many games this season because he is not quite physically strong enough to deal with it yet, but I think at 19 we'll see a completely different player.
" I think you have to trust your own judgement don't you, the gaffer (John Ward) has brought back Scott Dobie this week and he brought in Evan (Horwood) from Gretna. He's backing judgement, he'll be proved right or proved wrong, it hasn't cost us millions of pounds. You look at Premier League managers, they spend £10-15 million on players and they are giving them away within two weeks because it hasn't worked.
" I think that you have got to back your own judgement, you can't keep going for what you think are the ready-made ones or physically developed ones because they are not good enough footballers. If you can get them younger and develop them yourself then it's whether you've got the talent or the skill, and like I said, that's for other people to say whether I've got it or the players that come through. I'm more than pleased with Gary Madine, nobody has touched him until we got him, and look at the strides he has made, you want four or five of them to follow his route.
" We've got a major injury concern over Stephen Hindmarch, it's a massive blow to us. To be fair to Dolly (Neil Dalton) he's doing everything that he possibly can. He turned his ankle over in the first minute in the Macclesfield game on Saturday, as he turned it over it got stood on as well. It's not looking good, it is a blow to us because Stephen is a big player for us, he's a big game player, there are not many people who can do what he did in the last round.
" There is absolutely nothing that we can do about it though, it's just one of those things that happens. At the moment I'd say that his chances are very slim of playing. It's a 7pm kick-off, I hope that as many people can come down as possible and let's see if we can take one more step. "