MANAGER Alan McLoughlin admits his Swindon Town U18s side will have to overcome a big step up in quality if they are to claim a place in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup today.

Nottingham Forest make the trip to Wiltshire for this afternoon’s third round tie, which takes place at the Energy Check County Ground (1pm).

Town edged to a narrow 1-0 victory at home to Northampton Town in the previous round and ruthlessly swept aside Newport County 6-2 at SN1 before that.

However, McLoughlin feels his young troops will have to raise their game even further if they are to claim Forest’s scalp this afternoon.

“It will be a big step up. We are playing a Category Two academy with resources that we could only dream of,” said McLoughlin.

“They have got some fantastic players in their camp and some England players as well.

“It will be a difficult task but one we will try to embrace to the best of our abilities.

“We know we are going into the game as underdogs and I think that will suit the players. They have got nothing to lose and have earned the right to be in this round.

“We know what we can do and if we stick to the gameplan we have in place, I’m sure we can do well.”

Preparations for today’s game have not been as smooth as McLoughlin would have liked, with the U18s having already played one match this week.

Town’s youngsters took on Southend United Reserves in the Central League on Tuesday, with that game taking place the same day as the first team were involved in the Checkatrade Trophy second round against Forest Green Rovers.

The team will also be without the injured Luke Haines today but Jordan Edwards could return after an injury of his own, while Jacob Bancroft is available again after missing the previous round through suspension.

“It has been a bit of a disrupted week, unfortunately,” said McLoughlin.

“We had to send the youth team to play in a reserve game on Tuesday, which hurt our week’s preparation, and quite a few of the players have been training with the first team as well so we haven’t done the shape work we planned.

“These are the little issues we have to face and certainly Nottingham Forest won’t have.

“We have just got to dust ourselves down and get on with it and prepare ourselves as best we can and, more than anything, enjoy the game and enjoy the occasion.”

Tickets for today’s match are priced at £3 for adults and £1 concessions.