BROMSGROVE Sporting boss Paul Smith says this weekend’s cup tie presents a perfect opportunity to give youth a chance.
The Rouslers make the trip to Midland League Division Two basement club Earlswood Town on Saturday (February 27) in the quarter-finals of the Smedley Crooke Memorial Charity Cup.
And with a trip to Lichfield City the following Tuesday night (March 1), Smith will be rotating his squad to give some of the up-and-coming youngsters at the club some first team experience.
“When I came to the club I always said having good young talent was important,” he added.
“I am really pleased with the set up we have here and our under-18s and under-21s are performing well.
“Over the season I have slowly introduced some of the young players we have here into the first team.
“There will be two youngsters starting the game at Earlswood, with possibly three or four youth players on the bench.”
The Rouslers go into this game on the back of a 4-0 victory at Heather St Johns on Saturday (February 20), a result that sent Sporting to the top of the Division One table.
Yet for Smith, the result came as a little bit of a shock to him.
“I did not expect it to be as routine as it was,” he said.
“Heather picked up a great win at Heath Hayes in the week and I was expecting a really tough game.
“But fair play to my lads, it was a professional performance on a heavy pitch with a howling wind.
“We limited their chances and we took ours, it was an all round strong performance.”
With a quick return to league action at Lichfield just three days later, the Rouslers will look to maintain their momentum going into the latter stages of the campaign.
Lichfield haven’t won in their last four league outings but Smith told the Standard they will be looking to beat his in-form side.
“They are a wounded animal since we beat them at the Victoria Ground,” he added.
“I wouldn’t say we have the psychological edge going into this game, if anything, Lichfield will be more determined to beat us.
“However, we have a tricky cup game to deal with first before I focus on the league game at Lichfield.”
