Manchester United youth coach Paul McGuiness knows they face a battle to reach the FA Youth Cup final.

United go to Chelsea in the second-leg of their semifinal 2-1 down on aggregate.

"There's a host of benefits to playing in the Youth Cup," he told ManUtd.com. "The competition is very important. The first team is the most important thing in the club but the core and heart has come from youth players traditionally. It's very important we keep that tradition going.

"The Youth Cup is a simulation of first-team games. It gives us a nice feeling and we take it seriously. The boys are aware of our tradition and want to add to it. We stay in hotels and so on and, when they get off that coach and are at a league ground, they've got the blazers on.

"What happened last year at Chelsea was one of the stewards said he thought it was the first team coming in there. That is exactly what you want. We're like the first team and try to play like the first team and some might become first-team players in the future. You never know."