Man City using Youth Cup heartbreak as fuel for 2024 as first team disrupt preparations

There can't be many under-18 sides preparing for this week's FA Youth Cup third round who have lost half their team to FIFA Club World Cup call-ups.

Manchester City begin their Youth Cup campaign this week, but will travel to Watford in the third round without a number of regulars after a disjointed week of preparations.

With the under-21 side playing in the Premier League 2 on Sunday, it was decided that nobody who was eligible would be playing in that game against Norwich and also the Youth Cup clash with Watford. Usually, the close integration between the EDS and under-18s would make such an arrangement work out fine, but Pep Guardiola has thrown an unintentional spanner in the works by calling up six academy players to take to Saudi Arabia this week.

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MEN Sport revealed on Monday that City have taken six academy players to Saudi Arabia to supplement the first-team squad for their Club World Cup campaign this week, with four of those youngsters eligible to play in the Youth Cup. Of the other two, they would have been scheduled to play for the under-21s on Sunday, while Mahamadou Susoho was unavailable for that game after featuring on the bench for City in the Premier League on Saturday.

Add injuries and other minor inconveniences due to the schedule, and City won't take their strongest side to Vicarage Road on Tuesday, where a strong crowd is expected.

"We're a bit thin on the ground, but hopefully we've got enough to put a good performance on and try and get through," says under-18 head coach Ben Wilkinson. "We've watched Watford