17S FINAL TEST

Tuesday 4 May 2004, 12:30

Gary Ablett takes his Under-17 side to Villa Park tonight for the first leg of the Academy National Play-Off Final (kick-off 7.00 p.m.)

Everton, the Champions of the North West section, will meet the Villains, the winners of the Midlands section in a repeat of the 2002 FA Youth Cup Final.

However, the Blues are hoping to be victorious on this occasion to cap off a relatively impressive season on a high.

Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers have only beaten the club's youngsters during the 2002/3 campaign and they have already defeated Aston Villa 3-1 on the opening day of the season.

"By all accounts they haven't changed too much in the past seven months," Ablett told evertonfc.com.

"They're a good footballing side. If we give them time and space to play, they will and they will hurt us. It's up to us to impose ourselves on them. We won't have to do anything drastic.

"It's the first leg of two, so at the end of 90 minutes, it's half-time. We just have to make sure that we're in the best possible position going into the second leg. We want to win it."

Everton's Under-17s travel to Villa Park virtually at full strength, but are missing Irish defender Alan Kearney, who has returned to his homeland due to personal reasons.

The young Blues have been looking forward to the game for the past ten days after they disposed of Tottenham Hotspur in a sudden death penalty shoot out and Ablett believes that they're in the best possible shape.

"I would hope there a bit of excitement and a few nerves knocking around the dressing room," he continued. Excitement and nerves aren't bad things and hopefully they'll respond well to those emotions and get a good result tonight.

"We rounded our preparations off on Monday with all the little bits and bobs that we have to check on, such as set pieces for and against, situations that may arise in the game and hopefully they're ready for the game at Villa Park.

"We've tried to leave no stone unturned. We've had them watched, we've tried to make sure we can nullify their strengths, exploit their weaknesses. So, we'll just have to wait and see."

Everton from: Lake, Gallagher, Wynne, Boyle, Wright, Hughes, Seargeant, Harris, Wilson, Phelan, Fowler, Hopkins, Vaughan, Anichebe, Irving, Kissock, Morrison.