Manchester City academy chief Jim Cassell is hoping for a big crowd at Eastlands on Wednesday for the second-leg of their FA Youth Cup semifinal clash with Sunderland.

City welcome Sunderland defending a two-goal lead and Cassell told the club's website: "I think it would be great. It's a big occasion for the boys and they've got to learn to handle expectation - which is what we've got now. It'll be a different type of pressure on Tuesday. So it would be nice if our fans could get down and support the boys. It'll be a tough game and we're not counting our chickens. If everything goes to plan we've got a great opportunity to make the final.

"Anything can happen, you can have an injury, a player sent off so we're going to approach it as a one-legged tie that we've got to win and that's the way we've been all year. If the boys keep performing as they have been doing then we should be okay.

"Alex [Gibson] has particularly organised the players exceptionally well and that's down to his great staff. So let's give credit where it's due - all the staff have worked so very hard."