The three Nottingham Forest youngsters who could save Steve Cooper millions in transfer business

As Nottingham Forest's Under-18s booked themselves an FA Youth Cup final spot for the first time in the club's history, some supporters are already beginning to ponder whether some of those in Warren Joyce's squad could be future first-team stars.

The young Reds produced a dramatic comeback to score three times in the final five minutes to beat multiple trophy-winners Chelsea in their last four tie.

Charlie Webster gave the visitors the lead after an hour at the City Ground before Dale Taylor leveled the scores with five minutes left on the clock. Detlef Esapa Osong put the home side ahead with a reactive strike on 89 minutes and a converted penalty deep into stoppage-time.

That victory means Nottingham Forest will now play Manchester United in a bid to make history all over again by lifting the trophy for the very first time. A date has yet to be confirmed.

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Forest boss Steve Cooper’s reputation for developing young players was a key factor in his appointment at the City Ground, and he has regular conversations with director of football development Gary Brazil, Under-23s head coach Andy Reid and Under-18s chief Joyce.

“We have good dialogue with the academy staff,” he told the Nottingham Post in December.

“For me, the academy is somewhat more of a quantitative role. Obviously it’s a qualitative role as well, but it’s quantitative because you do a lot more hours’ training and you’ve got a lot more teams, and a lot more players.

“There’s a lot of stuff which people don’t see which goes on in an academy. I’m respectful of that because I’ve been there - and I miss it, to be fair, as