Manchester United’s head of first-team development Nicky Butt is keen to see bravery and character from the players when they take on Leeds United in an FA Youth Cup clash at Old Trafford tonight.

The two traditional rivals will lock horns at youth level tonight when Manchester United host Leeds Under-18s in the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup.  

 



There is anticipation surrounding the game and Leeds have been allocated around 1,800 tickets for the away section of Old Trafford as they look to cheer their youngsters on.

Butt, who is now head of first-team development, is a Youth Cup winner with Manchester United and will be in the stands to watch the game tonight at Old Trafford.
 


The former Red Devil is keen to see whether the youngsters can show the bravery and character needed for them to progress into the first team in the future at Manchester United.



He wants to see how the players react if they are chasing the game or whether they can push their team-mates to do more in order to get a win over the line.

Butt told The Athletic: “You want players who are going to be brave on the ball, accept the ball under pressure.
 

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“Do what they do in training every day, work hard, drive themselves when it’s going wrong. If they go 1-0 down, how do they react?

“Is it arms in the air, ‘Not my fault!’, or do they go and take the challenge on board?”

“I hate seeing players react like that when they get 1-0 down. Real players try even harder when they’re 1-0 down. Don’t shirk under any of the nonsense in a game, the bookings, the reactions.

“If they are winning, one, two goals, do they start showboating, being silly, not be respectful? Or do they keep driving, getting three goals, four goals, five goals?

“Are they challenging the opposition to have a go at them? Are they challenging their own players? You get a lot of academy players who don’t really speak to each other.

“They need to be able to have a go at each other, then put it to bed at the end of the game. There are lots of things on my mind.”

Manchester United have not won the FA Youth Cup since 2011, when current first-teamers Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard were part of the squad.