Espanyol will to battle with Leicester on Saturday night in the youth cup semi final first leg, looking to defy the odds and cause an upset.

Leicester have put together a formidable youth team with a number already part of the first team set up.

In their midfield is former Espanyol young star Caicedo who was key to the spanish sides run to the semi finals, whilst Martinelli in attack is a major danger.

Espanyol’s own youth team has been strengthened this week as Hickey completed his move from Feyenoord and will make his debut at Full back.

Espanyol’s strength this season has been their ability to switch around their formation due to the flexibility in the squad. Despite being lower rated, the spanish side have their own danger men with Leonardo, Henrique and Balogun all capable of being match winners.

We’ve lost Caicedo and Alberto from the side that was doing so well in the early stages. They were big players for us, and will be missed as we look to get something in the first leg to keep us in the tie.

Leicester will start favourites and the pressure is on them to get the job done, however i have big belief in this crop of youngsters and we wont go down without a fight. We have a game plan for the two legs and hopefully this will catch Leicester by surprise when the game comes around. We are gonna enjoy the experience, as mentioned previously we have exceeded expectations and this squad owes us nothing in this competition. We are having a good season, and still going strong on three fronts. The future is very bright for Espanyol, and this seasons youth cup has seen some great line ups. Over in the other semi final in Barcelona and Levante we have two impressive squads. Who ever comes out on top over the next few weeks will have earnt that trophy as the competition is hot.