BOSS Paul Bodin has urged his young players not to get carried away by the prospect of facing Liverpool when they take on Cirencester Town this evening in the second round of the FA Youth Cup, writes ANDY WARREN.

After easily disposing of Sholing in round one, Swindon host the men from the Corinium at the County Ground this evening (kick-off 7pm), with the prize for the winners being a third round tie at home to the Premier League giants.

Bodin is without Louis Thompson and Aaron Oakley, who have been involved with Paolo Di Canio’s first team, for tonight’s game, and Jake Simpson is unlikely to feature having only returned from international duty with Jamaica this morning.

Further injuries have left Bodin with only nine full-time apprentices available to him, but the youth team boss wants the remaining players and the young scholars stepping up into the side to focus fully on the game in hand, rather than let their thoughts wander.

“I am five players down out of 14 full time apprentices, so we are going to need to get some of the younger guys to step up,” he said.

“They have had some integration into the team, so it is not as if they are coming straight into the unknown.

“The most important thing is to put in a big performance and to do ourselves justice.

“In every game we set objectives that we want to get out of the game, and those can be personal ones or objectives for the whole team.

“If we can meet them then we will be okay, and we will be doing all we can to play good football and help the boys develop.

“The Liverpool game is there and that would be an amazing game for the young boys to be involved in if we can get through, but I am sure it will motivate both teams on the night so we can’t get too carried away.”

Bodin also wants his youngsters to enjoy playing at the County Ground, but is hoping to avoid the torrential rain which hit the first-round clash with Sholing.

“It is rare for them to get an opportunity to play at the County Ground these days, so games like these are great for them,” he said.

“The FA Youth Cup is a great tournament to be involved in, and we have seen in the past when we have played against players like Andy Carroll, Victor Moses and Jonjo Shelvey, and look what they are doing now.

“This is a good opportunity for our lads to show what they have good, and players like that are examples of where you can get with hard work.

“In the last round the weather was awful, so hopefully we won’t get any rain like last time because it can make things a bit more level.

“But I am sure the County Ground pitch will be lovely like it always is, and I am sure it will be a great experience for all the lads.”