City’s boss reflects on the last eight tie with Swansea, after the Checkatrade draw was made on Thursday morning…
The Sky Blues will travel to the Liberty Stadium on the week commencing 23rd Jan, after being dealt a quarterfinal tie against Swansea City’s U21s.
Russell Slade believes the draw gives his side a realistic chance of making it to the semifinals of the competition, despite Swansea’s unbeaten Checkatrade record.
He said: “It is the last U21 team left in the competition, it is a good fixture for us in a great stadium. They do look like one of the strongest U21 teams and it’ll be a tough game.
“But what it does do is give us an opportunity, a realistic opportunity of progressing again. When you get to this stage, you’re only two games away from playing at the national stadium.
“I don’t think there has ever been a bad cup final to play in. It would be great for this club if we could pull that off. While it isn’t a priority, if we could make it to a final it would be a great day for everyone associated with the football club.”
The City boss has managed at London’s Wembley stadium in the past, and will be approaching the tie in two weeks with the will to progress, despite citing the league as the club's core focus.
He added: “It makes us tough to beat, we’ve proven that we can dispose of the younger sides. But we’ll have to take this game on merit, Swansea have got some dangerous players.
"Oliver McBurnie up front is scoring goals, and they have got players of international calibre as well so it won’t be easy.
“Lets hope we can take a few fans on that long journey and make it to the semis. A lot of players will go through their career having never had the opportunity to play at Wembley, and it is a great day.
“I’ve managed in play-offs at Wembley, you don’t forget those days. And it would be a chance to make a small bit of history for this great football club.”