Emile Heskey has implored Leicester City's young players to make the most of their Youth FA Cup opportunity this week.
The Foxes U18s take on Sheffield Wednesday in the fifth round at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday night with a quarter-final berth on the cards if they are successful.
Heskey, the club's Foundation Ambassador, knows all too well that performing in a competition such as this can lead to senior game time for the up and coming talent and has urged them to grasp their chance with both hands.
"As young lads, you go to the first team stadiums to watch the games and you aspire to be like those first team players," the Foxes youth academy product old told LCFC.com.
"So to actually play on the pitch that they play on week in, week out is an achievement that they should really cherish and look forward to.
"I'm sure there are a lot of lads who are just starting out in their careers and hoping to use this as a chance to excel. This is a platform that you can use to put yourself out there and do that.
"Over the years Leicester City have always given young players the opportunity to break into the first team, and that's absolutely massive.
"Especially when you're coming through as a youth team player, you know that as long as you keep your focus on doing well, then you've always got that opportunity to make that step, just like Andy King has, just like Jeff Schlupp has, just like Liam Moore has and just like I did.
"So that's what they're going to be looking at and the FA Youth Cup is a wonderful platform for them to use to perform well."
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