Academy manager Darren Edmondson will be the man in charge again on Thursday evening when United take on Workington at Frenchfield Park in round three of this season’s Cumberland Cup.
We spoke to him about the game earlier this week.
“It’ll be a good game,” he said. “We’re cramming it in at Penrith again, and we’re very grateful to them for their help. We’ve spoken about the facilities before and they’re looking after us at the moment, which is fantastic.
“It’ll be another good test for the younger players. Physically the lads will need to stand up to going up against older players, even though we’re not sure what type of team Workington will put out.
“That doesn’t necessarily matter because whoever they play, they’ll be years older and that bit stronger. It comes down to whether we can man-up and test ourselves against what will be a decent side.
“The Cumberland Cup games are a great experience for the lads and I know I always looked forward to it when I played in them. Further along my career, when I was managing at Workington, we used to be pleased if we were drawn against Carlisle.
“I spoke to Eric Kinder when he was here, and he used to like the games because it gave his young players a totally different kind of opposition to deal with. As long as the game is done correctly, which it always is these days, it becomes an excellent development tool.
“You find out a few things about individual personalities because they’ll have their own little battles to contend with all over the pitch. We’re looking forward to it and I’m sure Workington will be as well.”
Click HERE to watch an interview with Darren Edmondson on iFollow United now.
