Bruno Fernandes among three Manchester United players to send Youth Cup message

Bruno Fernandes, Juan Mata and David de Gea have all sent messages of support to Manchester United's Under-18s as they prepare to compete in the FA Youth Cup final.

United's youngsters have been a bright spark in an otherwise disastrous campaign and have provided a rare dose of positivity by making it to the prestigious tournament's final for the first time since 2011. Nottingham Forest stand in their way of making history by lifting the trophy.

Travis Binnion's side will be cheered on by 70,000 supporters at Old Trafford, with a further 6,000 visiting fans making it a sell-out crowd. Tickets were priced at just a pound for the match, with the proceeds going towards the United Foundation.

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The stakes are high for United's promising starlets and that hasn't been lost on their senior counterparts who have moved to show their support. Vice-captain Fernandes took to Twitter on Wednesday morning and said: "Good luck to the youth team at Old Trafford tonight. It's amazing to have a big crowd there to support them which will be a very good experience for our young players."

Meanwhile, De Gea tweeted 'Let's go' accompanied with a red and muscle emoji and his fellow Spaniard Mata wrote: 'All the best boys,' also with a muscle emoji.

Finally, in a short clip on United's social media, recent academy graduate Anthony Elanga said: "So I want to say good luck to the Under-18s, they're playing Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford and we wish them all the best.

"Hopefully they can bring the trophy back to Old Trafford, back where it belongs."

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